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“Ehehe, thank you.” Vivio answered with a small blush. “And how would you think you would look in one?”

“It’s long and white, I’d look horrible in it.” Was Syn’s resolute reply.

“I don’t know, it might look really cute on you...” The tone in Vivio’s voice send a small warning chill down Syn’s spine. She heard that tone before.

“And luckily, I have another uniform! So let’s try it!” Vivio answered with a big smile as she pulled another uniform from the closet.

Yup, just like she thought.

“I’m not going to try it.” Syn objected.

“Aww, come on, I bet you’ll look wonderful in it!”

“It’s white!” she protested

“I know.” Vivio answered with that same smile.

“And it’s a long skirt!”

“I know.” The smile still hadn’t left Vivio’s face. Syn gritted her teeth. She knew that smile. That was Vivio’s you-know-I’m-going-to-win-this-so-just-put-on-the-uniform-already smile.

“Dammit!” Syn cursed in defeat as her shoulders slumped. Vivio’s smile turned into a grin as she set of to work. Moments later the two were both wearing the white uniform of the Earth’s Seishou Elementary school.

“See?” Vivio smiled as she clapped her hands. “I knew it would look adorable on you!”

“You think?” Syn hesitantly answered as she spun a bit, making the skirt float up.

“Yes it does. You should wear skirts like this more often.” Vivio took a few steps back and sweatdropped “Though it takes some time getting used to walking around in them. Our skirts are a lot shorter.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Eh?” Vivio blinked. “You mean you’ve worn skirts like these before? Whoever managed to get you into them?” Vivio asked in surprise.

Her answer was a deadly glare from Syn.

“Oh yeah.” Vivio said as scratched her head in embarrassment when she remember the ‘few’ times she and Elena dressed her up.

“Exactly. Still, there is a very easy way that you don’t have to worry about tripping over your skirt.”

Vivio frowned. “I’m not worried about- Kya!” Vivio’s protest ended in a yelp as Syn hoisted her into the air bridal style.

“See? Now you don’t have to worry about tripping.” Syn said as she began walking.

“S-S-Syn, what are you-”

“I’m just carrying you around.” Syn said as she began to walk to the living room. “Why, something wrong?” she asked with a grin.

“I-I-you... Mou! You’re just doing this to embarrass me aren’t you?”

“You had your fun, now it’s my turn. I’m going to carry you around until you stop blushing.”

Vivio puffed her cheeks, those words only made her blush harder as Syn exited the back door, and Syn knew it!

“But what if someone sees us?” Vivio protested.

“And I should care, because?” Syn grinned.

“Syn!”

“Maybe we should go to the cafe’s... I’m kinda hungry.” Syn casually commented, though the grin never left her face.

Vivio moaned in defeat as she tried to burry herself in her friend’s chest. Today certainly was a day she wouldn’t quickly forget; Syn would make sure of that.

“Ehehe, thank you.” Vivio answered with a small blush. “And how would you think you would look in one?”

“It’s long and white, I’d look horrible in it.” Was Syn’s resolute reply.

“I don’t know, it might look really cute on you...” The tone in Vivio’s voice send a small warning chill down Syn’s spine. She heard that tone before.

“And luckily, I have another uniform! So let’s try it!” Vivio answered with a big smile as she pulled another uniform from the closet.

Yup, just like she thought.

“I’m not going to try it.” Syn objected.

“Aww, come on, I bet you’ll look wonderful in it!”

“It’s white!” she protested

“I know.” Vivio answered with that same smile.

“And it’s a long skirt!”

“I know.” The smile still hadn’t left Vivio’s face. Syn gritted her teeth. She knew that smile. That was Vivio’s you-know-I’m-going-to-win-this-so-just-put-on-the-uniform-already smile.

“Dammit!” Syn cursed in defeat as her shoulders slumped. Vivio’s smile turned into a grin as she set of to work. Moments later the two were both wearing the white uniform of the Earth’s Seishou Elementary school.

“See?” Vivio smiled as she clapped her hands. “I knew it would look adorable on you!”

“You think?” Syn hesitantly answered as she spun a bit, making the skirt float up.

“Yes it does. You should wear skirts like this more often.” Vivio took a few steps back and sweatdropped “Though it takes some time getting used to walking around in them. Our skirts are a lot shorter.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Eh?” Vivio blinked. “You mean you’ve worn skirts like these before? Whoever managed to get you into them?” Vivio asked in surprise.

Her answer was a deadly glare from Syn.

“Oh yeah.” Vivio said as scratched her head in embarrassment when she remember the ‘few’ times she and Elena dressed her up.

“Exactly. Still, there is a very easy way that you don’t have to worry about tripping over your skirt.”

Vivio frowned. “I’m not worried about- Kya!” Vivio’s protest ended in a yelp as Syn hoisted her into the air bridal style.

“See? Now you don’t have to worry about tripping.” Syn said as she began walking.

“S-S-Syn, what are you-”

“I’m just carrying you around.” Syn said as she began to walk to the living room. “Why, something wrong?” she asked with a grin.

“I-I-you... Mou! You’re just doing this to embarrass me aren’t you?”

“You had your fun, now it’s my turn. I’m going to carry you around until you stop blushing.”

Vivio puffed her cheeks, those words only made her blush harder as Syn exited the back door, and Syn knew it!

“But what if someone sees us?” Vivio protested.

“And I should care, because?” Syn grinned.

“Syn!”

“Maybe we should go to the cafe’s... I’m kinda hungry.” Syn casually commented, though the grin never left her face.

Vivio moaned in defeat as she tried to burry herself in her friend’s chest. Today certainly was a day she wouldn’t quickly forget; Syn would make sure of that.

Photoshop strikes to deliver a funny short
So who wears the "pants" in this relationship anyway? *Runs*

“Ehehe, thank you.” Vivio answered with a small blush. “And how would you think you would look in one?”

“It’s long and white, I’d look horrible in it.” Was Syn’s resolute reply.

“I don’t know, it might look really cute on you...” The tone in Vivio’s voice send a small warning chill down Syn’s spine. She heard that tone before.

“And luckily, I have another uniform! So let’s try it!” Vivio answered with a big smile as she pulled another uniform from the closet.

Yup, just like she thought.

“I’m not going to try it.” Syn objected.

“Aww, come on, I bet you’ll look wonderful in it!”

“It’s white!” she protested

“I know.” Vivio answered with that same smile.

“And it’s a long skirt!”

“I know.” The smile still hadn’t left Vivio’s face. Syn gritted her teeth. She knew that smile. That was Vivio’s you-know-I’m-going-to-win-this-so-just-put-on-the-uniform-already smile.

“Dammit!” Syn cursed in defeat as her shoulders slumped. Vivio’s smile turned into a grin as she set of to work. Moments later the two were both wearing the white uniform of the Earth’s Seishou Elementary school.

“See?” Vivio smiled as she clapped her hands. “I knew it would look adorable on you!”

“You think?” Syn hesitantly answered as she spun a bit, making the skirt float up.

“Yes it does. You should wear skirts like this more often.” Vivio took a few steps back and sweatdropped “Though it takes some time getting used to walking around in them. Our skirts are a lot shorter.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Eh?” Vivio blinked. “You mean you’ve worn skirts like these before? Whoever managed to get you into them?” Vivio asked in surprise.

Her answer was a deadly glare from Syn.

“Oh yeah.” Vivio said as scratched her head in embarrassment when she remember the ‘few’ times she and Elena dressed her up.

“Exactly. Still, there is a very easy way that you don’t have to worry about tripping over your skirt.”

Vivio frowned. “I’m not worried about- Kya!” Vivio’s protest ended in a yelp as Syn hoisted her into the air bridal style.

“See? Now you don’t have to worry about tripping.” Syn said as she began walking.

“S-S-Syn, what are you-”

“I’m just carrying you around.” Syn said as she began to walk to the living room. “Why, something wrong?” she asked with a grin.

“I-I-you... Mou! You’re just doing this to embarrass me aren’t you?”

“You had your fun, now it’s my turn. I’m going to carry you around until you stop blushing.”

Vivio puffed her cheeks, those words only made her blush harder as Syn exited the back door, and Syn knew it!

“But what if someone sees us?” Vivio protested.

“And I should care, because?” Syn grinned.

“Syn!”

“Maybe we should go to the cafe’s... I’m kinda hungry.” Syn casually commented, though the grin never left her face.

Vivio moaned in defeat as she tried to burry herself in her friend’s chest. Today certainly was a day she wouldn’t quickly forget; Syn would make sure of that.

^_^ I saw that pic in the Image thread! fuuu looks better with the lil story. :nods:

“Ehehe, thank you.” Vivio answered with a small blush. “And how would you think you would look in one?”

“It’s long and white, I’d look horrible in it.” Was Syn’s resolute reply.

“I don’t know, it might look really cute on you...” The tone in Vivio’s voice send a small warning chill down Syn’s spine. She heard that tone before.

“And luckily, I have another uniform! So let’s try it!” Vivio answered with a big smile as she pulled another uniform from the closet.

Yup, just like she thought.

“I’m not going to try it.” Syn objected.

“Aww, come on, I bet you’ll look wonderful in it!”

“It’s white!” she protested

“I know.” Vivio answered with that same smile.

“And it’s a long skirt!”

“I know.” The smile still hadn’t left Vivio’s face. Syn gritted her teeth. She knew that smile. That was Vivio’s you-know-I’m-going-to-win-this-so-just-put-on-the-uniform-already smile.

“Dammit!” Syn cursed in defeat as her shoulders slumped. Vivio’s smile turned into a grin as she set of to work. Moments later the two were both wearing the white uniform of the Earth’s Seishou Elementary school.

“See?” Vivio smiled as she clapped her hands. “I knew it would look adorable on you!”

“You think?” Syn hesitantly answered as she spun a bit, making the skirt float up.

“Yes it does. You should wear skirts like this more often.” Vivio took a few steps back and sweatdropped “Though it takes some time getting used to walking around in them. Our skirts are a lot shorter.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Eh?” Vivio blinked. “You mean you’ve worn skirts like these before? Whoever managed to get you into them?” Vivio asked in surprise.

Her answer was a deadly glare from Syn.

“Oh yeah.” Vivio said as scratched her head in embarrassment when she remember the ‘few’ times she and Elena dressed her up.

“Exactly. Still, there is a very easy way that you don’t have to worry about tripping over your skirt.”

Vivio frowned. “I’m not worried about- Kya!” Vivio’s protest ended in a yelp as Syn hoisted her into the air bridal style.

“See? Now you don’t have to worry about tripping.” Syn said as she began walking.

“S-S-Syn, what are you-”

“I’m just carrying you around.” Syn said as she began to walk to the living room. “Why, something wrong?” she asked with a grin.

“I-I-you... Mou! You’re just doing this to embarrass me aren’t you?”

“You had your fun, now it’s my turn. I’m going to carry you around until you stop blushing.”

Vivio puffed her cheeks, those words only made her blush harder as Syn exited the back door, and Syn knew it!

“But what if someone sees us?” Vivio protested.

“And I should care, because?” Syn grinned.

“Syn!”

“Maybe we should go to the cafe’s... I’m kinda hungry.” Syn casually commented, though the grin never left her face.

Vivio moaned in defeat as she tried to burry herself in her friend’s chest. Today certainly was a day she wouldn’t quickly forget; Syn would make sure of that.

She pushed shoulders down, bit the soft flesh once more on the neck of her lover. Moans came, gasps escaped, pleades for more were whispered. Legs shifted, bodys moved, and hair mixed again.

Green eye, red eye.

Kissing lips, fondling hands, and steady insistence. Pressure kept the other down, body weight rubbing on wet skin. A grin was on her face, and the other wanted her place back.

Groans and struggling, whispers and ignored commands. The bodies shifted again, and blue once again covered blond.

Louder panting, burning skin, scratch marks multiplying. The blond gave, eyes glazing and whimpering submissively. Taking the opportunity, the new leader shifted them so thy were facing each other and hugging. Hips moved, arms embraced, and bodies shivered.

Closed eyes.

Breathing hard, wanting less, getting more. Electric fingertips, searing palms, and raggid puffs of air. Release came for both at the same time, stopping everything for a few blissful moments of pleasure.

They collasped, holding the other weakly and smiling through the damp hair that
somehow managed not to stick to their skin.

A green eye sparkled, and soon the red one followed. "My turn," Were the only words spoken.

Blue hair sprawled behind her, arms accepting the new position, and they began once again.

She pushed shoulders down, bit the soft flesh once more on the neck of her lover. Moans came, gasps escaped, pleades for more were whispered. Legs shifted, bodys moved, and hair mixed again.

Green eye, red eye.

Kissing lips, fondling hands, and steady insistence. Pressure kept the other down, body weight rubbing on wet skin. A grin was on her face, and the other wanted her place back.

Groans and struggling, whispers and ignored commands. The bodies shifted again, and blue once again covered blond.

Louder panting, burning skin, scratch marks multiplying. The blond gave, eyes glazing and whimpering submissively. Taking the opportunity, the new leader shifted them so thy were facing each other and hugging. Hips moved, arms embraced, and bodies shivered.

Closed eyes.

Breathing hard, wanting less, getting more. Electric fingertips, searing palms, and raggid puffs of air. Release came for both at the same time, stopping everything for a few blissful moments of pleasure.

They collasped, holding the other weakly and smiling through the damp hair that
somehow managed not to stick to their skin.

A green eye sparkled, and soon the red one followed. "My turn," Were the only words spoken.

Blue hair sprawled behind her, arms accepting the new position, and they began once again.

A soft knocking on the door made the group of girls look towards it expectingly. "Come in?" Vivio asked curiously, getting her blond mother's voice in return.

"Could you open the door for me?" Her soft tone was barely heard but Syn still managed to lean backwards and twist the knob to let her in. "Hey girls," Fate greeted her daughter and friends taking part in her 'first weekend of back to school sleep over'. "I thought you'd get hungry while gossiping so I got you some pizza." Several small cheers and thank yous came from the group of five as the mother turned over the hot food. "What are you all up to?"

The oldest girl in the room smiled softly. "I have a suggestion?" All eyes turned on her as she picked up a jelly bean from their snack bowl with a nostalgic look on her face. "One thing that I did as a little girl, about your age.

Vivio tilted her head to the side. "Oh? Fate-mama played truth or dare?"

"I did." Fate smiled at her and knelt next to Syn. "Your dare, Vivio, is to eat this jellybean...." She got blank looks. "But neither you nor Syn can more your hands from behind your back."

"Me?" Syn looked over her shoulder and blushed scarlet when she felt the bean dropped down her front and go in her bra. "Kya!"

Fate smiled at them and walked to the door, glancing back at her daughter and how her hair was frizzing out. "Have fun~"

The door closed softly and all eyes turned on the two girls, lecherous grins on their faces. "Yes, Vivio," TeleIce stated eagerly. "Get the jellybean."

Wanwan grabbed her nose. "I'm gonna pass out."

"Don't worry," Keroko took out a camera. "I'll take pictures for you."

"A dare's a dare..." Vivio whispered so just they could hear. "Remember what the consequences are for not doing a dare?"

Syn flushed. "Um... yeah..." Her multi-colored eyes looked skywards and she squirmed lightly as she felt Vivio's teeth grip her shirt and pull, trying to untuck it. 'Oh god why did I have to wear THAT bra today...?'

mmm... should I continue? *halo* 0: 3

YEAH! *coughs* Err... yes you should Satashi-chan
I WANT!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keroko

Spoiler for Revenge:

“Vivio?” Syn called as she entered the house. “Oooi, Vi!”

“I’m in here!” Her nine year old friend’s voice sounded. Strangely enough, it came from her mother’s room.

“Vi? What are you doing in-”

“Ta-da!” Vivio said as she twirled around wearing a long white skirt and a long sleeved open top. It sort of reminded Syn of Nanoha’s Barrier Jacket.

“Uhm... Vi? What are you wearing?” Syn asked her friend.

“Isn’t it cute?” Vivio asked as she did another twirl. “This used to be my mother’s school uniform!”

Syn blinked. “Your mother’s? You mean back on earth?”

Vivio nodded “Yes, when she was still in elementary school. So, what do you think?”

“Ehehe, thank you.” Vivio answered with a small blush. “And how would you think you would look in one?”

“It’s long and white, I’d look horrible in it.” Was Syn’s resolute reply.

“I don’t know, it might look really cute on you...” The tone in Vivio’s voice send a small warning chill down Syn’s spine. She heard that tone before.

“And luckily, I have another uniform! So let’s try it!” Vivio answered with a big smile as she pulled another uniform from the closet.

Yup, just like she thought.

“I’m not going to try it.” Syn objected.

“Aww, come on, I bet you’ll look wonderful in it!”

“It’s white!” she protested

“I know.” Vivio answered with that same smile.

“And it’s a long skirt!”

“I know.” The smile still hadn’t left Vivio’s face. Syn gritted her teeth. She knew that smile. That was Vivio’s you-know-I’m-going-to-win-this-so-just-put-on-the-uniform-already smile.

“Dammit!” Syn cursed in defeat as her shoulders slumped. Vivio’s smile turned into a grin as she set of to work. Moments later the two were both wearing the white uniform of the Earth’s Seishou Elementary school.

“See?” Vivio smiled as she clapped her hands. “I knew it would look adorable on you!”

“You think?” Syn hesitantly answered as she spun a bit, making the skirt float up.

“Yes it does. You should wear skirts like this more often.” Vivio took a few steps back and sweatdropped “Though it takes some time getting used to walking around in them. Our skirts are a lot shorter.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Eh?” Vivio blinked. “You mean you’ve worn skirts like these before? Whoever managed to get you into them?” Vivio asked in surprise.

Her answer was a deadly glare from Syn.

“Oh yeah.” Vivio said as scratched her head in embarrassment when she remember the ‘few’ times she and Elena dressed her up.

“Exactly. Still, there is a very easy way that you don’t have to worry about tripping over your skirt.”

Vivio frowned. “I’m not worried about- Kya!” Vivio’s protest ended in a yelp as Syn hoisted her into the air bridal style.

“See? Now you don’t have to worry about tripping.” Syn said as she began walking.

“S-S-Syn, what are you-”

“I’m just carrying you around.” Syn said as she began to walk to the living room. “Why, something wrong?” she asked with a grin.

“I-I-you... Mou! You’re just doing this to embarrass me aren’t you?”

“You had your fun, now it’s my turn. I’m going to carry you around until you stop blushing.”

Vivio puffed her cheeks, those words only made her blush harder as Syn exited the back door, and Syn knew it!

“But what if someone sees us?” Vivio protested.

“And I should care, because?” Syn grinned.

“Syn!”

“Maybe we should go to the cafe’s... I’m kinda hungry.” Syn casually commented, though the grin never left her face.

Vivio moaned in defeat as she tried to burry herself in her friend’s chest. Today certainly was a day she wouldn’t quickly forget; Syn would make sure of that.

Awesome short and the image is fabulous ^^

Quote:

Originally Posted by Satashi

Spoiler for @_@!!!!!!!!! NOT SAFE FOR WANWAN (or work):

Biting, grinning, sucking, nibbling.

Blond hair fluttered as it mixed with blue.

Blue eye, red eye.

She pushed shoulders down, bit the soft flesh once more on the neck of her lover. Moans came, gasps escaped, pleades for more were whispered. Legs shifted, bodys moved, and hair mixed again.

Green eye, red eye.

Kissing lips, fondling hands, and steady insistence. Pressure kept the other down, body weight rubbing on wet skin. A grin was on her face, and the other wanted her place back.

Groans and struggling, whispers and ignored commands. The bodies shifted again, and blue once again covered blond.

Louder panting, burning skin, scratch marks multiplying. The blond gave, eyes glazing and whimpering submissively. Taking the opportunity, the new leader shifted them so thy were facing each other and hugging. Hips moved, arms embraced, and bodies shivered.

Closed eyes.

Breathing hard, wanting less, getting more. Electric fingertips, searing palms, and raggid puffs of air. Release came for both at the same time, stopping everything for a few blissful moments of pleasure.

They collasped, holding the other weakly and smiling through the damp hair that
somehow managed not to stick to their skin.

A green eye sparkled, and soon the red one followed. "My turn," Were the only words spoken.

Blue hair sprawled behind her, arms accepting the new position, and they began once again.

"Nyahaha..." Nanoha looked up from mixing her batter. "Good morning, Mom. Did I wake you up?"

"'Good morning' my heinie. It's 4AM!" Momoko sighed and shook her head. She walked over and looked at the ingredients that had gone into the mix. "Hm... cookies?"

"Mmhmm. I was in the mood to bake but I didn't want to get in the way during store hours. Ah, I'll clean all this up before we have to start preparing for the day."

"It's okay. Most of this will be taken out anyway. Are you finished putting in ingredients?"

"Mmhmm. Ah!" Momoko looked up from reaching for the chocolate chips. "I still need to add those. Everything else I'm done with though."

Momoko nodded and started shifting things around so it looked a bit neater, cleaning up here and there where Nanoha had gotten a little messy. "It's odd though."

"What is?"

"You don't normally feel up to baking." Momoko smiled as she teased, "Is this a one time thing or will you be helping out more during store hours?"

"Don't I always help?"

"Hmm..." Momoko stopped as she noticed something. "Nanoha? Did you put this in there?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I just thought I try it and see how it came out."

"Ah... experimenting are you? That's why you aren't doing it during store hours."

Nanoha nodded simply.

Momoko leaned over on the counter, watching as her daughter added the chocolate chips and began to stir anew. "We do have a mixer, you know."

"I know." A small smile came to Nanoha's lips as she whispered, "A machine can mix objectively, but doing it by hand... adds subjectivity... you can put your feelings into it."

A knowing smile came to Momoko's lips. "You're making this for someone special, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"I don't think I could say 'special' just yet, but they... inspired me."

"Inspired you?"

Nanoha nodded. "Inspired me to find a recipe I can call my own."

Momoko said nothing, musing on the power of whoever it was to 'inspire' her uninspired Nanoha. She hoped she would get a chance to try it before it went out to whoever was the recipient. Standing, Momoko said her last words. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. I'm going back upstairs to get changed for the day. Save me one or two to try later, won't you?"

"All right. But only if it turns out well."

Nanoha started humming as she was left alone, and a small smile came to her lips. It had been nearly two weeks since she had first met Fate, and she had gone to see her at every chance she got. She had come the day after, simply on the excuse that Fate had promised to make a makeshift leash for Yuuno and had forgotten, but after they talked more, Nanoha found herself walking to the studio more frequently than she realized. Perhaps she had hoped to get a peek at Fate's finished piece of her, but Fate refused to even so much as work on it when she was there. But she always smiled, so it must have been coming along nicely.

Nanoha smiled as she thought of Fate. It had taken a while, but she had finally cracked through Fate's defenses and had found at least one button she could push if she wanted to tease rather than get teased. 'Fate has such a cute blush...' It was a dangerous game she played though, and if Fate ever saw through her, it would bring them back to where they started. Nanoha remembered the day before, when she had taken a walk around town with Fate just to hang out.

--

"What's your favorite activity?" Nanoha had been thinking of something to ask for the past thirty seconds, which seemed shorter to Fate than to Nanoha. "Between taking photos, painting, and sculpting?"

Fate hummed as she thought about it. "Each has their different appeal. With photos, while getting just the right angle and lighting is important and ultimately satisfying if you do it right, it's kind of quick and painless. Painting takes a long time when you really put care into it, but the variances of color help produce something... very fullfilling to me. And you can paint things into 'reality' that you wouldn't otherwise find. The same goes for sculpting, but there's just something special about being able to put your hands on something and mold art as you see fit." Fate stopped and then laughed to herself. "I suppose you could say I love them all."

Nanoha tried to hint, "So have you decided what medium you're going to use for my thing?"

Fate smirked and waggled her finger. "It's an artist's perogative to keep things like that secret till the final day."

"Isn't there something in the guidebook that says models have their perogatives too?"

Fate chuckled. She said nothing until her eyes fell on the ice cream cart a little ways away. Pointing to it, she said, "Models get free ice cream when I can afford it. Like today."

Nanoha pouted, even as she walked with Fate to the cart. "That's a pretty cheap commission. Bought for 200 yen."

After they sat down with their ice cream, Fate murmured with a soft sigh, "I love ice cream... You know I count my paycheck by how many ice cream bars I can buy with it?"

Nanoha giggled. "That's silly." She did not mention that she counted her own allowance based on how many more installments she would need to buy the advertised BBGun Bazooka called 'Starlight Breaker'.

Fate leaned in close, her lips mere centimeters from Nanoha's. And then she extended her tongue...

...and licked off a little ice cream that had gotten away. Nanoha was about to wipe off the spot with her handkerchief and make a comment about how gross that was, when she caught the way Fate was watching her. In a snap, Nanoha thought of retaliation.

She licked her lips, inadvertently swiping the place Fate's tongue had just been.

Fate stared with a slack jaw for a good two seconds before the blush went from a rating of 2 to 10 in .75 seconds.

'Bingo.' Nanoha laughed, her eyes becoming lidded as she openly teased, "I see how it is now. When was the last time you've been on the receiving end?"

Fate quickly looked away, licking her ice cream quietly.

Nanoha scooted closer to her on the bench.

Fate scooted a little farther away.

"Fate."

Fate looked up and saw Nanoha smile at her. "What?"

"You're really cute, you know that?"

Fate stared at her for another second before starting to chomp onto the ice cream cone. "Oh hush you."

Nanoha giggled and finished her own ice cream, feeling satisfied in the most complete yet simplest of ways.

For the rest of the day, she had started 'payback' for the two weeks of teasing and blushing that she had endured. Oddly enough, when she thought about the blush she would see on Fate's face if she said or did one thing or another, it never occurred to her that being the one causing it might be reason to be embarrassed as well.

When they returned to the studio that day, Fate was greeted by two little kids whom she seemed to recognize very easily. Smiling as they hugged her, she greeted, "Erio, Caro, how are you doing?"

"Good!" They chimed as one, before Erio, a red-headed little boy who was a bit taller than the girl, "We were waiting for you."

"Not for long I hope?"

Caro shook her head. "No, it was only a little bit. Precia-san said you would be coming back soon so we waited."

Fate chuckled, ultimately ignoring Nanoha as she walked around the counter to take something out of the cupboard. Placing two boxes on the counter, she asked, "Could this be what you were waiting for?"

Their eyes lit up with glee as they reached out their hands and Fate placed the marked boxes in their hands.

Nanoha walked around the counter and nudged Fate as they both watched the kids take out what looked like pendants. "You made those?"

Fate nodded. "They don't take much time to make. Erio, Caro, do you like them?"

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

Erio grinned as he turned to Caro. "Caro, watch me! Strada, Set UP!" He then proceeded to twirl around, deftly pulling out something akin to a toy light saber / extended pole, moving into a defensive stance. "Rawr!"

Nanoha put a hand to her mouth to quickly muffle her giggling. Fate didn't even bother to try covering it up.

Especially when Caro held up her white dragon mini-figurine and said, "Ooh, me too! Friedriche! I choose you!"

They ran circles around each other, making sound effects and whatnot as they played. Eventually however, they calmed down, put their new pendants around their necks, and bowed to Fate.

Erio stepped forward and dug into his pocket before setting down some coins on the counter. "Mama said taking stuff without paying is stealing, so we went looked underneath the cushions and everything and this was what we could gather. Is it enough?"

Fate smiled as she made a show of counting the money. "Oh, you gave me too much. Here, take back the 500 yen piece." She smiled as she handed back the coin, the one with the biggest value out of the coins there.

Erio, unaware of this, accepted the 'change'. He bowed again as Fate scooped up the coins and put them in the cash register, ringing up the amount so that it could spit out a receipt. Erio stuffed the receipt in his pocket as he grinned. "Thanks a lot, Fate-neechan."

Caro added, "We always love the things you make for us."

Fate chuckled and waved her hand. "You're very welcome, you two. Now, it's getting late, so go on home before your Mama starts."

"Yes, Neechan!" The two little kids waved frantically before hurrying off, the bell ringing as the door flew open.

Nanoha smiled as Fate caught her looking.

"What?"

Nanoha shook her head. "Nothing."

"You were going to say something. What?"

"It's really nothing."

Fate looked at her, obviously not buying it for a second. She held her hands up in a poised position for attack. "I'll tickle you if you don't tell me."

Nanoha giggled and stepped away so that the stair banister separated her from Fate. "Well... It just occurred to me that... if Fate were the mother of my children, I would feel very comfortable with leaving them in her care."

Cue Blush of a Thousand Shades.

Nanoha giggled and laughed as Fate chased her up the stairs. The walls shook as Fate toppled over Nanoha, landing them both in Arf's bed. One tickle fest later, during which their positions reversed several times, they ended up lying side by side.

Breathing a little harder than she might otherwise have been, Fate muttered, "There are some things that shouldn't be mentioned in jest."

Nanoha breathed, "Sorry then. You made me say it."

"I know." Fate didn't offer an apology.

Nanoha placed a caressing hand against Fate's cheek, and was surprised when Fate leaned into her touch, seemingly unconsciously, before jerking back. Nanoha purred, "Does Fate-chan like being touched?"

Fate looked away. "As long as it's not by ferrets."

"You don't mind if I touch you?" Nanoha felt oddly honored by this allowance, and settled for placing her hand over Fate's.

"Do... do you mind?" Fate's blush was back. "If I... If I touch you?"

"I like Fate-chan." Nanoha giggled, wondering why she felt so happy about saying that even when she only meant it as friends. "Why would I mind?"

Fate said nothing, scooting over to wrap her arms around her. Nanoha reciprocated in kind.

They lay like that for several minutes before Fate's hands started to roam.

Nanoha would have stopped her at several points if she hadn't been captivated by the soft murmur of Fate's voice close to her ear. It was largely indistinguishable, so Nanoha had to keep quiet in order to decipher it properly.

When she realized what it was, Nanoha asked, baffled, "Are you measuring me?"

Fate's muttering stopped. Leaning back so that they were looking at each other again, Fate asked, "I just wanted to check if my guess at your proportions were accurate."

Nanoha's cheeks stopped one shade shy of pink. "... Were they?"

Fate looked down. Nanoha looked down as well, and saw her own chest. "Mostly. Just one area..."

Nanoha sighed, sitting up. "I'll leave that one to your imagination."

Fate pouted, but shrugged it off. "You'd make a good pillow in any case. Regardless of that."

Nanoha shook her head as she stood up. "I should be getting home about now. I usually help with the evening shifts."

"Oh? I'll walk you back?"

"That's okay; the sun hasn't even set yet. I'll be fine."

Nanoha was about to go downstairs when she felt Fate's hand close over her wrist. "Nanoha..."

"Hm?" Nanoha smiled at her.

"Did I... did I offend you somehow? Are you mad at me?"

Nanoha stopped, and Fate loosened her hold on her. Deciding she would have one last parting shot before she left for the day, she started, "Not really... but next time your hands feel like 'exploring' my body..." Leaning in close to Fate's ear, she whispered, "Make it a subjective experience; not an objective one, hm? Though I won't deny that it felt nice either way."

Giggling, Nanoha waved, said she'd see herself out, and skipped down the stairs, leaving a surprised Fate in her wake.

--

Nanoha looked down at the freshly baked cookies before nodding and tying the ribbon around the top of the bag. "I hope she likes it."

Nanoha checked the clock and verified that while still early, it was a somewhat more agreeable hour of the day. Somewhat. Wondering if Fate woke early, Nanoha decided that delivering the cookies simply could not wait. She neatened up the kitchen a bit more and put away her apron before hurrying off. She passed her mother on her way out, told her where she was going, and promised to be back in an hour or two.

With that, Nanoha set off on her trek across town to the studio.

When she arrived, the street was surprisingly quiet, unless one remembered that this was a sleepy town that didn't wake up until about two hours later. She sighed when she found that the store front still said, "CLOSED".

She decided to walk over to the park where she had met Fate and walk around a bit more. She had woken up with more energy than she needed today.

The park was completely deserted. Nanoha didn't even see the casual morning jogger. She looked around as she slowed her pace to enjoy the solitude.

That's when she saw it.

Nanoha was more than a little amazed to see Fate with an easel in front of her and a palette balance on her left hand. Smiling, she creeped up behind her, a convenient route as Fate already had her back turned towards her.

When she came close enough to look over Fate's shoulder, Nanoha stopped, breathless.

"That can't be me."

What Fate was painting... was already more beautiful than anything Nanoha could have ever imagined seeing.

Even the cookies in her bag felt insignificant in comparison.

"Nano...ha."

Nanoha caught a glimmer of something in Fate's eyes behind the shock. The expression that Fate had been painting with.

Was that...

Could it be that...

Nanoha met Fate's gaze head on.

Was this the work of someone who had nothing but the best of feelings to add to the sublime 'subjectivity' of the artpiece?

Was it this beautiful... because of love?

~End Chapter

Spoiler for Extra Note:

In the subtle(?) randomness of this piece, yes, Friedriche has been reduced to Pokemon-Intelligent-Device status and Strada is a light-saber/rod-thingy.

Also, struggling between NanoFate going too fast or too slow, I don't know. Blushing wars are fun stuff~ Not as easy to accomplish in real life tho.

And... no one pointed it out, but there may be a secondary connection between Precia and Mr. J. Scaly-spaghetti. *whistles innocently*

Ah, I was planning on making this a 3-part piece, so the next installment should have the song that inspired this. *nods* Let's see if my slow way of writing can get where it needs to be in one chapter tho.. ah...

Warning, the following, er, crack, is full of cuss words, so if you can't handle it, then FUCK OFF!

Spoiler for Guilty Conscience:

snip

I really liked this for some reason, but noooooooooooo Vice finally got some! heaven forbid! XD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Junkedcat

Its been a long time coming

Spoiler for L!F ch 11:

snip

Hehe, Landscaper Fate returns!!! i miss this! I did wonder if you would expand on why Nanoha was so , best word to describe? fragile? unconfident?now it all makes sense. Is her Mum also distant also? i dont think i've seen much of Momoko too much? assuming it is still Momoko, i havent read previous chapters in a while so might have missed it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkbluemint

Note: I was trying to write a ShizNat, or one of the two NanoFate that are polluting mi head (in a good way) at this moment, but this idea started to shape up and it wouldn't leave me alone and I hope I can write it fast because I kinda have to teach a class in two hours and... well, I kinda have nothing ready .
Warning: Excessive use of parentheses... but, it's just that I like them so much .

Spoiler for Facets:

snip

hehe, yep thats why Hayate was the commanding officer nice little short other than i had a hard time making sense of the viewpoint at times. Keep going!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Satashi

Spoiler for Vampire!Fate pt. 1A:

snip

Hayate Nanoha Love Triangle nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! XD

A

Whats Nanoha doing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Satashi

Spoiler for History Repeats itself (Vivio/Syn):

mmm... should I continue? *halo* 0: 3

Haha! i remembered this too! Syn's turn! and that bra? lol was it wash day or some other circumstances? *ponders*

More!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vivio Syn cuteness please! what other Dares or revelations will be revealed :P Bonus for more Fate-mama embarrassing her daughter moments!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keroko

Spoiler for Revenge:

snip

Very nice! loved the photoshopped picture! Vivio had the upperhand, but Syn got her own back in the end! wonder what Nanoha would say if she found her daughter in her old school uniform being carried bridal style by her best friend also in said uniform, bring back memories maybe?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight of L-sama

Randomness presented in a non-random fashion... or something like that.

Spoiler for Fate the Artist:

snip

I hope it's not too long...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight of L-sama

Had time today so... Nanoha-vision!

Spoiler for Rawr, fine Artist!Fate pt. 2:

snip

Spoiler for Extra Note:

snip

Ah, I was planning on making this a 3-part piece, so the next installment should have the song that inspired this. *nods* Let's see if my slow way of writing can get where it needs to be in one chapter tho.. ah...

*wants to start on a certain different MSLN storyline*

I don't read the thread for a few days and i come back to....to...THIS! i absolutely Loved! this little piece of fiction. I like the way you have written it and no i dont think its going too fast if your making it into a three piece short. Cliffhanger much at the end of part 2? whats Fate going to say! will she run? will Nanoha still give her the cookies? i didn't miss the jail comment, i just thought it was a typo,! :P mr Spaghetti!

I laughed at the the reduction of Friedliche to a pokemon, although dragon vs sword, what would win that one???

"Nyahaha..." Nanoha looked up from mixing her batter. "Good morning, Mom. Did I wake you up?"

"'Good morning' my heinie. It's 4AM!" Momoko sighed and shook her head. She walked over and looked at the ingredients that had gone into the mix. "Hm... cookies?"

"Mmhmm. I was in the mood to bake but I didn't want to get in the way during store hours. Ah, I'll clean all this up before we have to start preparing for the day."

"It's okay. Most of this will be taken out anyway. Are you finished putting in ingredients?"

"Mmhmm. Ah!" Momoko looked up from reaching for the chocolate chips. "I still need to add those. Everything else I'm done with though."

Momoko nodded and started shifting things around so it looked a bit neater, cleaning up here and there where Nanoha had gotten a little messy. "It's odd though."

"What is?"

"You don't normally feel up to baking." Momoko smiled as she teased, "Is this a one time thing or will you be helping out more during store hours?"

"Don't I always help?"

"Hmm..." Momoko stopped as she noticed something. "Nanoha? Did you put this in there?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I just thought I try it and see how it came out."

"Ah... experimenting are you? That's why you aren't doing it during store hours."

Nanoha nodded simply.

Momoko leaned over on the counter, watching as her daughter added the chocolate chips and began to stir anew. "We do have a mixer, you know."

"I know." A small smile came to Nanoha's lips as she whispered, "A machine can mix objectively, but doing it by hand... adds subjectivity... you can put your feelings into it."

A knowing smile came to Momoko's lips. "You're making this for someone special, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"I don't think I could say 'special' just yet, but they... inspired me."

"Inspired you?"

Nanoha nodded. "Inspired me to find a recipe I can call my own."

Momoko said nothing, musing on the power of whoever it was to 'inspire' her uninspired Nanoha. She hoped she would get a chance to try it before it went out to whoever was the recipient. Standing, Momoko said her last words. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. I'm going back upstairs to get changed for the day. Save me one or two to try later, won't you?"

"All right. But only if it turns out well."

Nanoha started humming as she was left alone, and a small smile came to her lips. It had been nearly two weeks since she had first met Fate, and she had gone to see her at every chance she got. She had come the day after, simply on the excuse that Fate had promised to make a makeshift leash for Yuuno and had forgotten, but after they talked more, Nanoha found herself walking to the studio more frequently than she realized. Perhaps she had hoped to get a peek at Fate's finished piece of her, but Fate refused to even so much as work on it when she was there. But she always smiled, so it must have been coming along nicely.

Nanoha smiled as she thought of Fate. It had taken a while, but she had finally cracked through Fate's defenses and had found at least one button she could push if she wanted to tease rather than get teased. 'Fate has such a cute blush...' It was a dangerous game she played though, and if Fate ever saw through her, it would bring them back to where they started. Nanoha remembered the day before, when she had taken a walk around town with Fate just to hang out.

--

"What's your favorite activity?" Nanoha had been thinking of something to ask for the past thirty seconds, which seemed shorter to Fate than to Nanoha. "Between taking photos, painting, and sculpting?"

Fate hummed as she thought about it. "Each has their different appeal. With photos, while getting just the right angle and lighting is important and ultimately satisfying if you do it right, it's kind of quick and painless. Painting takes a long time when you really put care into it, but the variances of color help produce something... very fullfilling to me. And you can paint things into 'reality' that you wouldn't otherwise find. The same goes for sculpting, but there's just something special about being able to put your hands on something and mold art as you see fit." Fate stopped and then laughed to herself. "I suppose you could say I love them all."

Nanoha tried to hint, "So have you decided what medium you're going to use for my thing?"

Fate smirked and waggled her finger. "It's an artist's perogative to keep things like that secret till the final day."

"Isn't there something in the guidebook that says models have their perogatives too?"

Fate chuckled. She said nothing until her eyes fell on the ice cream cart a little ways away. Pointing to it, she said, "Models get free ice cream when I can afford it. Like today."

Nanoha pouted, even as she walked with Fate to the cart. "That's a pretty cheap commission. Bought for 200 yen."

After they sat down with their ice cream, Fate murmured with a soft sigh, "I love ice cream... You know I count my paycheck by how many ice cream bars I can buy with it?"

Nanoha giggled. "That's silly." She did not mention that she counted her own allowance based on how many more installments she would need to buy the advertised BBGun Bazooka called 'Starlight Breaker'.

Fate leaned in close, her lips mere centimeters from Nanoha's. And then she extended her tongue...

...and licked off a little ice cream that had gotten away. Nanoha was about to wipe off the spot with her handkerchief and make a comment about how gross that was, when she caught the way Fate was watching her. In a snap, Nanoha thought of retaliation.

She licked her lips, inadvertently swiping the place Fate's tongue had just been.

Fate stared with a slack jaw for a good two seconds before the blush went from a rating of 2 to 10 in .75 seconds.

'Bingo.' Nanoha laughed, her eyes becoming lidded as she openly teased, "I see how it is now. When was the last time you've been on the receiving end?"

Fate quickly looked away, licking her ice cream quietly.

Nanoha scooted closer to her on the bench.

Fate scooted a little farther away.

"Fate."

Fate looked up and saw Nanoha smile at her. "What?"

"You're really cute, you know that?"

Fate stared at her for another second before starting to chomp onto the ice cream cone. "Oh hush you."

Nanoha giggled and finished her own ice cream, feeling satisfied in the most complete yet simplest of ways.

For the rest of the day, she had started 'payback' for the two weeks of teasing and blushing that she had endured. Oddly enough, when she thought about the blush she would see on Fate's face if she said or did one thing or another, it never occurred to her that being the one causing it might be reason to be embarrassed as well.

When they returned to the studio that day, Fate was greeted by two little kids whom she seemed to recognize very easily. Smiling as they hugged her, she greeted, "Erio, Caro, how are you doing?"

"Good!" They chimed as one, before Erio, a red-headed little boy who was a bit taller than the girl, "We were waiting for you."

"Not for long I hope?"

Caro shook her head. "No, it was only a little bit. Precia-san said you would be coming back soon so we waited."

Fate chuckled, ultimately ignoring Nanoha as she walked around the counter to take something out of the cupboard. Placing two boxes on the counter, she asked, "Could this be what you were waiting for?"

Their eyes lit up with glee as they reached out their hands and Fate placed the marked boxes in their hands.

Nanoha walked around the counter and nudged Fate as they both watched the kids take out what looked like pendants. "You made those?"

Fate nodded. "They don't take much time to make. Erio, Caro, do you like them?"

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

Erio grinned as he turned to Caro. "Caro, watch me! Strada, Set UP!" He then proceeded to twirl around, deftly pulling out something akin to a toy light saber / extended pole, moving into a defensive stance. "Rawr!"

Nanoha put a hand to her mouth to quickly muffle her giggling. Fate didn't even bother to try covering it up.

Especially when Caro held up her white dragon mini-figurine and said, "Ooh, me too! Friedriche! I choose you!"

They ran circles around each other, making sound effects and whatnot as they played. Eventually however, they calmed down, put their new pendants around their necks, and bowed to Fate.

Erio stepped forward and dug into his pocket before setting down some coins on the counter. "Mama said taking stuff without paying is stealing, so we went looked underneath the cushions and everything and this was what we could gather. Is it enough?"

Fate smiled as she made a show of counting the money. "Oh, you gave me too much. Here, take back the 500 yen piece." She smiled as she handed back the coin, the one with the biggest value out of the coins there.

Erio, unaware of this, accepted the 'change'. He bowed again as Fate scooped up the coins and put them in the cash register, ringing up the amount so that it could spit out a receipt. Erio stuffed the receipt in his pocket as he grinned. "Thanks a lot, Fate-neechan."

Caro added, "We always love the things you make for us."

Fate chuckled and waved her hand. "You're very welcome, you two. Now, it's getting late, so go on home before your Mama starts."

"Yes, Neechan!" The two little kids waved frantically before hurrying off, the bell ringing as the door flew open.

Nanoha smiled as Fate caught her looking.

"What?"

Nanoha shook her head. "Nothing."

"You were going to say something. What?"

"It's really nothing."

Fate looked at her, obviously not buying it for a second. She held her hands up in a poised position for attack. "I'll tickle you if you don't tell me."

Nanoha giggled and stepped away so that the stair banister separated her from Fate. "Well... It just occurred to me that... if Fate were the mother of my children, I would feel very comfortable with leaving them in her care."

Cue Blush of a Thousand Shades.

Nanoha giggled and laughed as Fate chased her up the stairs. The walls shook as Fate toppled over Nanoha, landing them both in Arf's bed. One tickle fest later, during which their positions reversed several times, they ended up lying side by side.

Breathing a little harder than she might otherwise have been, Fate muttered, "There are some things that shouldn't be mentioned in jest."

Nanoha breathed, "Sorry then. You made me say it."

"I know." Fate didn't offer an apology.

Nanoha placed a caressing hand against Fate's cheek, and was surprised when Fate leaned into her touch, seemingly unconsciously, before jerking back. Nanoha purred, "Does Fate-chan like being touched?"

Fate looked away. "As long as it's not by ferrets."

"You don't mind if I touch you?" Nanoha felt oddly honored by this allowance, and settled for placing her hand over Fate's.

"Do... do you mind?" Fate's blush was back. "If I... If I touch you?"

"I like Fate-chan." Nanoha giggled, wondering why she felt so happy about saying that even when she only meant it as friends. "Why would I mind?"

Fate said nothing, scooting over to wrap her arms around her. Nanoha reciprocated in kind.

They lay like that for several minutes before Fate's hands started to roam.

Nanoha would have stopped her at several points if she hadn't been captivated by the soft murmur of Fate's voice close to her ear. It was largely indistinguishable, so Nanoha had to keep quiet in order to decipher it properly.

When she realized what it was, Nanoha asked, baffled, "Are you measuring me?"

Fate's muttering stopped. Leaning back so that they were looking at each other again, Fate asked, "I just wanted to check if my guess at your proportions were accurate."

Nanoha's cheeks stopped one shade shy of pink. "... Were they?"

Fate looked down. Nanoha looked down as well, and saw her own chest. "Mostly. Just one area..."

Nanoha sighed, sitting up. "I'll leave that one to your imagination."

Fate pouted, but shrugged it off. "You'd make a good pillow in any case. Regardless of that."

Nanoha shook her head as she stood up. "I should be getting home about now. I usually help with the evening shifts."

"Oh? I'll walk you back?"

"That's okay; the sun hasn't even set yet. I'll be fine."

Nanoha was about to go downstairs when she felt Fate's hand close over her wrist. "Nanoha..."

"Hm?" Nanoha smiled at her.

"Did I... did I offend you somehow? Are you mad at me?"

Nanoha stopped, and Fate loosened her hold on her. Deciding she would have one last parting shot before she left for the day, she started, "Not really... but next time your hands feel like 'exploring' my body..." Leaning in close to Fate's ear, she whispered, "Make it a subjective experience; not an objective one, hm? Though I won't deny that it felt nice either way."

Giggling, Nanoha waved, said she'd see herself out, and skipped down the stairs, leaving a surprised Fate in her wake.

--

Nanoha looked down at the freshly baked cookies before nodding and tying the ribbon around the top of the bag. "I hope she likes it."

Nanoha checked the clock and verified that while still early, it was a somewhat more agreeable hour of the day. Somewhat. Wondering if Fate woke early, Nanoha decided that delivering the cookies simply could not wait. She neatened up the kitchen a bit more and put away her apron before hurrying off. She passed her mother on her way out, told her where she was going, and promised to be back in an hour or two.

With that, Nanoha set off on her trek across town to the studio.

When she arrived, the street was surprisingly quiet, unless one remembered that this was a sleepy town that didn't wake up until about two hours later. She sighed when she found that the store front still said, "CLOSED".

She decided to walk over to the park where she had met Fate and walk around a bit more. She had woken up with more energy than she needed today.

The park was completely deserted. Nanoha didn't even see the casual morning jogger. She looked around as she slowed her pace to enjoy the solitude.

That's when she saw it.

Nanoha was more than a little amazed to see Fate with an easel in front of her and a palette balance on her left hand. Smiling, she creeped up behind her, a convenient route as Fate already had her back turned towards her.

When she came close enough to look over Fate's shoulder, Nanoha stopped, breathless.

"That can't be me."

What Fate was painting... was already more beautiful than anything Nanoha could have ever imagined seeing.

Even the cookies in her bag felt insignificant in comparison.

"Nano...ha."

Nanoha caught a glimmer of something in Fate's eyes behind the shock. The expression that Fate had been painting with.

Was that...

Could it be that...

Nanoha met Fate's gaze head on.

Was this the work of someone who had nothing but the best of feelings to add to the sublime 'subjectivity' of the artpiece?

Was it this beautiful... because of love?

~End Chapter

Spoiler for Extra Note:

In the subtle(?) randomness of this piece, yes, Friedriche has been reduced to Pokemon-Intelligent-Device status and Strada is a light-saber/rod-thingy.

Also, struggling between NanoFate going too fast or too slow, I don't know. Blushing wars are fun stuff~ Not as easy to accomplish in real life tho.

And... no one pointed it out, but there may be a secondary connection between Precia and Mr. J. Scaly-spaghetti. *whistles innocently*

Ah, I was planning on making this a 3-part piece, so the next installment should have the song that inspired this. *nods* Let's see if my slow way of writing can get where it needs to be in one chapter tho.. ah...

A soft knocking on the door made the group of girls look towards it expectingly. "Come in?" Vivio asked curiously, getting her blond mother's voice in return.

"Could you open the door for me?" Her soft tone was barely heard but Syn still managed to lean backwards and twist the knob to let her in. "Hey girls," Fate greeted her daughter and friends taking part in her 'first weekend of back to school sleep over'. "I thought you'd get hungry while gossiping so I got you some pizza." Several small cheers and thank yous came from the group of five as the mother turned over the hot food. "What are you all up to?"

The oldest girl in the room smiled softly. "I have a suggestion?" All eyes turned on her as she picked up a jelly bean from their snack bowl with a nostalgic look on her face. "One thing that I did as a little girl, about your age.

Vivio tilted her head to the side. "Oh? Fate-mama played truth or dare?"

"I did." Fate smiled at her and knelt next to Syn. "Your dare, Vivio, is to eat this jellybean...." She got blank looks. "But neither you nor Syn can more your hands from behind your back."

"Me?" Syn looked over her shoulder and blushed scarlet when she felt the bean dropped down her front and go in her bra. "Kya!"

Fate smiled at them and walked to the door, glancing back at her daughter and how her hair was frizzing out. "Have fun~"

The door closed softly and all eyes turned on the two girls, lecherous grins on their faces. "Yes, Vivio," TeleIce stated eagerly. "Get the jellybean."

Wanwan grabbed her nose. "I'm gonna pass out."

"Don't worry," Keroko took out a camera. "I'll take pictures for you."

"A dare's a dare..." Vivio whispered so just they could hear. "Remember what the consequences are for not doing a dare?"

Syn flushed. "Um... yeah..." Her multi-colored eyes looked skywards and she squirmed lightly as she felt Vivio's teeth grip her shirt and pull, trying to untuck it. 'Oh god why did I have to wear THAT bra today...?'

mmm... should I continue? *halo* 0: 3

I actually know where this came from. Anyways, please do continue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keroko

Spoiler for Revenge:

“Vivio?” Syn called as she entered the house. “Oooi, Vi!”

“I’m in here!” Her nine year old friend’s voice sounded. Strangely enough, it came from her mother’s room.

“Vi? What are you doing in-”

“Ta-da!” Vivio said as she twirled around wearing a long white skirt and a long sleeved open top. It sort of reminded Syn of Nanoha’s Barrier Jacket.

“Uhm... Vi? What are you wearing?” Syn asked her friend.

“Isn’t it cute?” Vivio asked as she did another twirl. “This used to be my mother’s school uniform!”

Syn blinked. “Your mother’s? You mean back on earth?”

Vivio nodded “Yes, when she was still in elementary school. So, what do you think?”

“Ehehe, thank you.” Vivio answered with a small blush. “And how would you think you would look in one?”

“It’s long and white, I’d look horrible in it.” Was Syn’s resolute reply.

“I don’t know, it might look really cute on you...” The tone in Vivio’s voice send a small warning chill down Syn’s spine. She heard that tone before.

“And luckily, I have another uniform! So let’s try it!” Vivio answered with a big smile as she pulled another uniform from the closet.

Yup, just like she thought.

“I’m not going to try it.” Syn objected.

“Aww, come on, I bet you’ll look wonderful in it!”

“It’s white!” she protested

“I know.” Vivio answered with that same smile.

“And it’s a long skirt!”

“I know.” The smile still hadn’t left Vivio’s face. Syn gritted her teeth. She knew that smile. That was Vivio’s you-know-I’m-going-to-win-this-so-just-put-on-the-uniform-already smile.

“Dammit!” Syn cursed in defeat as her shoulders slumped. Vivio’s smile turned into a grin as she set of to work. Moments later the two were both wearing the white uniform of the Earth’s Seishou Elementary school.

“See?” Vivio smiled as she clapped her hands. “I knew it would look adorable on you!”

“You think?” Syn hesitantly answered as she spun a bit, making the skirt float up.

“Yes it does. You should wear skirts like this more often.” Vivio took a few steps back and sweatdropped “Though it takes some time getting used to walking around in them. Our skirts are a lot shorter.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Eh?” Vivio blinked. “You mean you’ve worn skirts like these before? Whoever managed to get you into them?” Vivio asked in surprise.

Her answer was a deadly glare from Syn.

“Oh yeah.” Vivio said as scratched her head in embarrassment when she remember the ‘few’ times she and Elena dressed her up.

“Exactly. Still, there is a very easy way that you don’t have to worry about tripping over your skirt.”

Vivio frowned. “I’m not worried about- Kya!” Vivio’s protest ended in a yelp as Syn hoisted her into the air bridal style.

“See? Now you don’t have to worry about tripping.” Syn said as she began walking.

“S-S-Syn, what are you-”

“I’m just carrying you around.” Syn said as she began to walk to the living room. “Why, something wrong?” she asked with a grin.

“I-I-you... Mou! You’re just doing this to embarrass me aren’t you?”

“You had your fun, now it’s my turn. I’m going to carry you around until you stop blushing.”

Vivio puffed her cheeks, those words only made her blush harder as Syn exited the back door, and Syn knew it!

“But what if someone sees us?” Vivio protested.

“And I should care, because?” Syn grinned.

“Syn!”

“Maybe we should go to the cafe’s... I’m kinda hungry.” Syn casually commented, though the grin never left her face.

Vivio moaned in defeat as she tried to burry herself in her friend’s chest. Today certainly was a day she wouldn’t quickly forget; Syn would make sure of that.

Nice photoshop. I like both versions of the pic. Poor Vivio, sounds like she is going to have one embarrassing day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Satashi

Spoiler for @_@!!!!!!!!! NOT SAFE FOR WANWAN (or work):

Biting, grinning, sucking, nibbling.

Blond hair fluttered as it mixed with blue.

Blue eye, red eye.

She pushed shoulders down, bit the soft flesh once more on the neck of her lover. Moans came, gasps escaped, pleades for more were whispered. Legs shifted, bodys moved, and hair mixed again.

Green eye, red eye.

Kissing lips, fondling hands, and steady insistence. Pressure kept the other down, body weight rubbing on wet skin. A grin was on her face, and the other wanted her place back.

Groans and struggling, whispers and ignored commands. The bodies shifted again, and blue once again covered blond.

Louder panting, burning skin, scratch marks multiplying. The blond gave, eyes glazing and whimpering submissively. Taking the opportunity, the new leader shifted them so thy were facing each other and hugging. Hips moved, arms embraced, and bodies shivered.

Closed eyes.

Breathing hard, wanting less, getting more. Electric fingertips, searing palms, and raggid puffs of air. Release came for both at the same time, stopping everything for a few blissful moments of pleasure.

They collasped, holding the other weakly and smiling through the damp hair that
somehow managed not to stick to their skin.

A green eye sparkled, and soon the red one followed. "My turn," Were the only words spoken.

Blue hair sprawled behind her, arms accepting the new position, and they began once again.

Wow, a new NSFW definition. O////////o The battle continues...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight of L-sama

Had time today so... Nanoha-vision!

Spoiler for Rawr, fine Artist!Fate pt. 2:

Part 2- Nanoha

"Nanoha? What are you doing up so early?"

"Nyahaha..." Nanoha looked up from mixing her batter. "Good morning, Mom. Did I wake you up?"

"'Good morning' my heinie. It's 4AM!" Momoko sighed and shook her head. She walked over and looked at the ingredients that had gone into the mix. "Hm... cookies?"

"Mmhmm. I was in the mood to bake but I didn't want to get in the way during store hours. Ah, I'll clean all this up before we have to start preparing for the day."

"It's okay. Most of this will be taken out anyway. Are you finished putting in ingredients?"

"Mmhmm. Ah!" Momoko looked up from reaching for the chocolate chips. "I still need to add those. Everything else I'm done with though."

Momoko nodded and started shifting things around so it looked a bit neater, cleaning up here and there where Nanoha had gotten a little messy. "It's odd though."

"What is?"

"You don't normally feel up to baking." Momoko smiled as she teased, "Is this a one time thing or will you be helping out more during store hours?"

"Don't I always help?"

"Hmm..." Momoko stopped as she noticed something. "Nanoha? Did you put this in there?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I just thought I try it and see how it came out."

"Ah... experimenting are you? That's why you aren't doing it during store hours."

Nanoha nodded simply.

Momoko leaned over on the counter, watching as her daughter added the chocolate chips and began to stir anew. "We do have a mixer, you know."

"I know." A small smile came to Nanoha's lips as she whispered, "A machine can mix objectively, but doing it by hand... adds subjectivity... you can put your feelings into it."

A knowing smile came to Momoko's lips. "You're making this for someone special, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"I don't think I could say 'special' just yet, but they... inspired me."

"Inspired you?"

Nanoha nodded. "Inspired me to find a recipe I can call my own."

Momoko said nothing, musing on the power of whoever it was to 'inspire' her uninspired Nanoha. She hoped she would get a chance to try it before it went out to whoever was the recipient. Standing, Momoko said her last words. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. I'm going back upstairs to get changed for the day. Save me one or two to try later, won't you?"

"All right. But only if it turns out well."

Nanoha started humming as she was left alone, and a small smile came to her lips. It had been nearly two weeks since she had first met Fate, and she had gone to see her at every chance she got. She had come the day after, simply on the excuse that Fate had promised to make a makeshift leash for Yuuno and had forgotten, but after they talked more, Nanoha found herself walking to the studio more frequently than she realized. Perhaps she had hoped to get a peek at Fate's finished piece of her, but Fate refused to even so much as work on it when she was there. But she always smiled, so it must have been coming along nicely.

Nanoha smiled as she thought of Fate. It had taken a while, but she had finally cracked through Fate's defenses and had found at least one button she could push if she wanted to tease rather than get teased. 'Fate has such a cute blush...' It was a dangerous game she played though, and if Fate ever saw through her, it would bring them back to where they started. Nanoha remembered the day before, when she had taken a walk around town with Fate just to hang out.

--

"What's your favorite activity?" Nanoha had been thinking of something to ask for the past thirty seconds, which seemed shorter to Fate than to Nanoha. "Between taking photos, painting, and sculpting?"

Fate hummed as she thought about it. "Each has their different appeal. With photos, while getting just the right angle and lighting is important and ultimately satisfying if you do it right, it's kind of quick and painless. Painting takes a long time when you really put care into it, but the variances of color help produce something... very fullfilling to me. And you can paint things into 'reality' that you wouldn't otherwise find. The same goes for sculpting, but there's just something special about being able to put your hands on something and mold art as you see fit." Fate stopped and then laughed to herself. "I suppose you could say I love them all."

Nanoha tried to hint, "So have you decided what medium you're going to use for my thing?"

Fate smirked and waggled her finger. "It's an artist's perogative to keep things like that secret till the final day."

"Isn't there something in the guidebook that says models have their perogatives too?"

Fate chuckled. She said nothing until her eyes fell on the ice cream cart a little ways away. Pointing to it, she said, "Models get free ice cream when I can afford it. Like today."

Nanoha pouted, even as she walked with Fate to the cart. "That's a pretty cheap commission. Bought for 200 yen."

After they sat down with their ice cream, Fate murmured with a soft sigh, "I love ice cream... You know I count my paycheck by how many ice cream bars I can buy with it?"

Nanoha giggled. "That's silly." She did not mention that she counted her own allowance based on how many more installments she would need to buy the advertised BBGun Bazooka called 'Starlight Breaker'.

Fate leaned in close, her lips mere centimeters from Nanoha's. And then she extended her tongue...

...and licked off a little ice cream that had gotten away. Nanoha was about to wipe off the spot with her handkerchief and make a comment about how gross that was, when she caught the way Fate was watching her. In a snap, Nanoha thought of retaliation.

She licked her lips, inadvertently swiping the place Fate's tongue had just been.

Fate stared with a slack jaw for a good two seconds before the blush went from a rating of 2 to 10 in .75 seconds.

'Bingo.' Nanoha laughed, her eyes becoming lidded as she openly teased, "I see how it is now. When was the last time you've been on the receiving end?"

Fate quickly looked away, licking her ice cream quietly.

Nanoha scooted closer to her on the bench.

Fate scooted a little farther away.

"Fate."

Fate looked up and saw Nanoha smile at her. "What?"

"You're really cute, you know that?"

Fate stared at her for another second before starting to chomp onto the ice cream cone. "Oh hush you."

Nanoha giggled and finished her own ice cream, feeling satisfied in the most complete yet simplest of ways.

For the rest of the day, she had started 'payback' for the two weeks of teasing and blushing that she had endured. Oddly enough, when she thought about the blush she would see on Fate's face if she said or did one thing or another, it never occurred to her that being the one causing it might be reason to be embarrassed as well.

When they returned to the studio that day, Fate was greeted by two little kids whom she seemed to recognize very easily. Smiling as they hugged her, she greeted, "Erio, Caro, how are you doing?"

"Good!" They chimed as one, before Erio, a red-headed little boy who was a bit taller than the girl, "We were waiting for you."

"Not for long I hope?"

Caro shook her head. "No, it was only a little bit. Precia-san said you would be coming back soon so we waited."

Fate chuckled, ultimately ignoring Nanoha as she walked around the counter to take something out of the cupboard. Placing two boxes on the counter, she asked, "Could this be what you were waiting for?"

Their eyes lit up with glee as they reached out their hands and Fate placed the marked boxes in their hands.

Nanoha walked around the counter and nudged Fate as they both watched the kids take out what looked like pendants. "You made those?"

Fate nodded. "They don't take much time to make. Erio, Caro, do you like them?"

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

Erio grinned as he turned to Caro. "Caro, watch me! Strada, Set UP!" He then proceeded to twirl around, deftly pulling out something akin to a toy light saber / extended pole, moving into a defensive stance. "Rawr!"

Nanoha put a hand to her mouth to quickly muffle her giggling. Fate didn't even bother to try covering it up.

Especially when Caro held up her white dragon mini-figurine and said, "Ooh, me too! Friedriche! I choose you!"

They ran circles around each other, making sound effects and whatnot as they played. Eventually however, they calmed down, put their new pendants around their necks, and bowed to Fate.

Erio stepped forward and dug into his pocket before setting down some coins on the counter. "Mama said taking stuff without paying is stealing, so we went looked underneath the cushions and everything and this was what we could gather. Is it enough?"

Fate smiled as she made a show of counting the money. "Oh, you gave me too much. Here, take back the 500 yen piece." She smiled as she handed back the coin, the one with the biggest value out of the coins there.

Erio, unaware of this, accepted the 'change'. He bowed again as Fate scooped up the coins and put them in the cash register, ringing up the amount so that it could spit out a receipt. Erio stuffed the receipt in his pocket as he grinned. "Thanks a lot, Fate-neechan."

Caro added, "We always love the things you make for us."

Fate chuckled and waved her hand. "You're very welcome, you two. Now, it's getting late, so go on home before your Mama starts."

"Yes, Neechan!" The two little kids waved frantically before hurrying off, the bell ringing as the door flew open.

Nanoha smiled as Fate caught her looking.

"What?"

Nanoha shook her head. "Nothing."

"You were going to say something. What?"

"It's really nothing."

Fate looked at her, obviously not buying it for a second. She held her hands up in a poised position for attack. "I'll tickle you if you don't tell me."

Nanoha giggled and stepped away so that the stair banister separated her from Fate. "Well... It just occurred to me that... if Fate were the mother of my children, I would feel very comfortable with leaving them in her care."

Cue Blush of a Thousand Shades.

Nanoha giggled and laughed as Fate chased her up the stairs. The walls shook as Fate toppled over Nanoha, landing them both in Arf's bed. One tickle fest later, during which their positions reversed several times, they ended up lying side by side.

Breathing a little harder than she might otherwise have been, Fate muttered, "There are some things that shouldn't be mentioned in jest."

Nanoha breathed, "Sorry then. You made me say it."

"I know." Fate didn't offer an apology.

Nanoha placed a caressing hand against Fate's cheek, and was surprised when Fate leaned into her touch, seemingly unconsciously, before jerking back. Nanoha purred, "Does Fate-chan like being touched?"

Fate looked away. "As long as it's not by ferrets."

"You don't mind if I touch you?" Nanoha felt oddly honored by this allowance, and settled for placing her hand over Fate's.

"Do... do you mind?" Fate's blush was back. "If I... If I touch you?"

"I like Fate-chan." Nanoha giggled, wondering why she felt so happy about saying that even when she only meant it as friends. "Why would I mind?"

Fate said nothing, scooting over to wrap her arms around her. Nanoha reciprocated in kind.

They lay like that for several minutes before Fate's hands started to roam.

Nanoha would have stopped her at several points if she hadn't been captivated by the soft murmur of Fate's voice close to her ear. It was largely indistinguishable, so Nanoha had to keep quiet in order to decipher it properly.

When she realized what it was, Nanoha asked, baffled, "Are you measuring me?"

Fate's muttering stopped. Leaning back so that they were looking at each other again, Fate asked, "I just wanted to check if my guess at your proportions were accurate."

Nanoha's cheeks stopped one shade shy of pink. "... Were they?"

Fate looked down. Nanoha looked down as well, and saw her own chest. "Mostly. Just one area..."

Nanoha sighed, sitting up. "I'll leave that one to your imagination."

Fate pouted, but shrugged it off. "You'd make a good pillow in any case. Regardless of that."

Nanoha shook her head as she stood up. "I should be getting home about now. I usually help with the evening shifts."

"Oh? I'll walk you back?"

"That's okay; the sun hasn't even set yet. I'll be fine."

Nanoha was about to go downstairs when she felt Fate's hand close over her wrist. "Nanoha..."

"Hm?" Nanoha smiled at her.

"Did I... did I offend you somehow? Are you mad at me?"

Nanoha stopped, and Fate loosened her hold on her. Deciding she would have one last parting shot before she left for the day, she started, "Not really... but next time your hands feel like 'exploring' my body..." Leaning in close to Fate's ear, she whispered, "Make it a subjective experience; not an objective one, hm? Though I won't deny that it felt nice either way."

Giggling, Nanoha waved, said she'd see herself out, and skipped down the stairs, leaving a surprised Fate in her wake.

--

Nanoha looked down at the freshly baked cookies before nodding and tying the ribbon around the top of the bag. "I hope she likes it."

Nanoha checked the clock and verified that while still early, it was a somewhat more agreeable hour of the day. Somewhat. Wondering if Fate woke early, Nanoha decided that delivering the cookies simply could not wait. She neatened up the kitchen a bit more and put away her apron before hurrying off. She passed her mother on her way out, told her where she was going, and promised to be back in an hour or two.

With that, Nanoha set off on her trek across town to the studio.

When she arrived, the street was surprisingly quiet, unless one remembered that this was a sleepy town that didn't wake up until about two hours later. She sighed when she found that the store front still said, "CLOSED".

She decided to walk over to the park where she had met Fate and walk around a bit more. She had woken up with more energy than she needed today.

The park was completely deserted. Nanoha didn't even see the casual morning jogger. She looked around as she slowed her pace to enjoy the solitude.

That's when she saw it.

Nanoha was more than a little amazed to see Fate with an easel in front of her and a palette balance on her left hand. Smiling, she creeped up behind her, a convenient route as Fate already had her back turned towards her.

When she came close enough to look over Fate's shoulder, Nanoha stopped, breathless.

"That can't be me."

What Fate was painting... was already more beautiful than anything Nanoha could have ever imagined seeing.

Even the cookies in her bag felt insignificant in comparison.

"Nano...ha."

Nanoha caught a glimmer of something in Fate's eyes behind the shock. The expression that Fate had been painting with.

Was that...

Could it be that...

Nanoha met Fate's gaze head on.

Was this the work of someone who had nothing but the best of feelings to add to the sublime 'subjectivity' of the artpiece?

Was it this beautiful... because of love?

~End Chapter

Spoiler for Extra Note:

In the subtle(?) randomness of this piece, yes, Friedriche has been reduced to Pokemon-Intelligent-Device status and Strada is a light-saber/rod-thingy.

Also, struggling between NanoFate going too fast or too slow, I don't know. Blushing wars are fun stuff~ Not as easy to accomplish in real life tho.

And... no one pointed it out, but there may be a secondary connection between Precia and Mr. J. Scaly-spaghetti. *whistles innocently*

Ah, I was planning on making this a 3-part piece, so the next installment should have the song that inspired this. *nods* Let's see if my slow way of writing can get where it needs to be in one chapter tho.. ah...

*wants to start on a certain different MSLN storyline*

I'm so glad you got out of lurker mode because THIS IS AWESOME! I love the blush wars going on. Lol, Erio and Caro were great. I noticed you make references to their intelligent devices and even Raising Heart, but what about Bardiche? My favorite part is how Nanoha is saving up to by a BB Bazooka called Starlight Breaker. I noticed the Precia/Jail, I just don't want the image in my mind. Don't make this only three parts! I wants more.

"Nyahaha..." Nanoha looked up from mixing her batter. "Good morning, Mom. Did I wake you up?"

"'Good morning' my heinie. It's 4AM!" Momoko sighed and shook her head. She walked over and looked at the ingredients that had gone into the mix. "Hm... cookies?"

"Mmhmm. I was in the mood to bake but I didn't want to get in the way during store hours. Ah, I'll clean all this up before we have to start preparing for the day."

"It's okay. Most of this will be taken out anyway. Are you finished putting in ingredients?"

"Mmhmm. Ah!" Momoko looked up from reaching for the chocolate chips. "I still need to add those. Everything else I'm done with though."

Momoko nodded and started shifting things around so it looked a bit neater, cleaning up here and there where Nanoha had gotten a little messy. "It's odd though."

"What is?"

"You don't normally feel up to baking." Momoko smiled as she teased, "Is this a one time thing or will you be helping out more during store hours?"

"Don't I always help?"

"Hmm..." Momoko stopped as she noticed something. "Nanoha? Did you put this in there?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I just thought I try it and see how it came out."

"Ah... experimenting are you? That's why you aren't doing it during store hours."

Nanoha nodded simply.

Momoko leaned over on the counter, watching as her daughter added the chocolate chips and began to stir anew. "We do have a mixer, you know."

"I know." A small smile came to Nanoha's lips as she whispered, "A machine can mix objectively, but doing it by hand... adds subjectivity... you can put your feelings into it."

A knowing smile came to Momoko's lips. "You're making this for someone special, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"I don't think I could say 'special' just yet, but they... inspired me."

"Inspired you?"

Nanoha nodded. "Inspired me to find a recipe I can call my own."

Momoko said nothing, musing on the power of whoever it was to 'inspire' her uninspired Nanoha. She hoped she would get a chance to try it before it went out to whoever was the recipient. Standing, Momoko said her last words. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. I'm going back upstairs to get changed for the day. Save me one or two to try later, won't you?"

"All right. But only if it turns out well."

Nanoha started humming as she was left alone, and a small smile came to her lips. It had been nearly two weeks since she had first met Fate, and she had gone to see her at every chance she got. She had come the day after, simply on the excuse that Fate had promised to make a makeshift leash for Yuuno and had forgotten, but after they talked more, Nanoha found herself walking to the studio more frequently than she realized. Perhaps she had hoped to get a peek at Fate's finished piece of her, but Fate refused to even so much as work on it when she was there. But she always smiled, so it must have been coming along nicely.

Nanoha smiled as she thought of Fate. It had taken a while, but she had finally cracked through Fate's defenses and had found at least one button she could push if she wanted to tease rather than get teased. 'Fate has such a cute blush...' It was a dangerous game she played though, and if Fate ever saw through her, it would bring them back to where they started. Nanoha remembered the day before, when she had taken a walk around town with Fate just to hang out.

--

"What's your favorite activity?" Nanoha had been thinking of something to ask for the past thirty seconds, which seemed shorter to Fate than to Nanoha. "Between taking photos, painting, and sculpting?"

Fate hummed as she thought about it. "Each has their different appeal. With photos, while getting just the right angle and lighting is important and ultimately satisfying if you do it right, it's kind of quick and painless. Painting takes a long time when you really put care into it, but the variances of color help produce something... very fullfilling to me. And you can paint things into 'reality' that you wouldn't otherwise find. The same goes for sculpting, but there's just something special about being able to put your hands on something and mold art as you see fit." Fate stopped and then laughed to herself. "I suppose you could say I love them all."

Nanoha tried to hint, "So have you decided what medium you're going to use for my thing?"

Fate smirked and waggled her finger. "It's an artist's perogative to keep things like that secret till the final day."

"Isn't there something in the guidebook that says models have their perogatives too?"

Fate chuckled. She said nothing until her eyes fell on the ice cream cart a little ways away. Pointing to it, she said, "Models get free ice cream when I can afford it. Like today."

Nanoha pouted, even as she walked with Fate to the cart. "That's a pretty cheap commission. Bought for 200 yen."

After they sat down with their ice cream, Fate murmured with a soft sigh, "I love ice cream... You know I count my paycheck by how many ice cream bars I can buy with it?"

Nanoha giggled. "That's silly." She did not mention that she counted her own allowance based on how many more installments she would need to buy the advertised BBGun Bazooka called 'Starlight Breaker'.

Fate leaned in close, her lips mere centimeters from Nanoha's. And then she extended her tongue...

...and licked off a little ice cream that had gotten away. Nanoha was about to wipe off the spot with her handkerchief and make a comment about how gross that was, when she caught the way Fate was watching her. In a snap, Nanoha thought of retaliation.

She licked her lips, inadvertently swiping the place Fate's tongue had just been.

Fate stared with a slack jaw for a good two seconds before the blush went from a rating of 2 to 10 in .75 seconds.

'Bingo.' Nanoha laughed, her eyes becoming lidded as she openly teased, "I see how it is now. When was the last time you've been on the receiving end?"

Fate quickly looked away, licking her ice cream quietly.

Nanoha scooted closer to her on the bench.

Fate scooted a little farther away.

"Fate."

Fate looked up and saw Nanoha smile at her. "What?"

"You're really cute, you know that?"

Fate stared at her for another second before starting to chomp onto the ice cream cone. "Oh hush you."

Nanoha giggled and finished her own ice cream, feeling satisfied in the most complete yet simplest of ways.

For the rest of the day, she had started 'payback' for the two weeks of teasing and blushing that she had endured. Oddly enough, when she thought about the blush she would see on Fate's face if she said or did one thing or another, it never occurred to her that being the one causing it might be reason to be embarrassed as well.

When they returned to the studio that day, Fate was greeted by two little kids whom she seemed to recognize very easily. Smiling as they hugged her, she greeted, "Erio, Caro, how are you doing?"

"Good!" They chimed as one, before Erio, a red-headed little boy who was a bit taller than the girl, "We were waiting for you."

"Not for long I hope?"

Caro shook her head. "No, it was only a little bit. Precia-san said you would be coming back soon so we waited."

Fate chuckled, ultimately ignoring Nanoha as she walked around the counter to take something out of the cupboard. Placing two boxes on the counter, she asked, "Could this be what you were waiting for?"

Their eyes lit up with glee as they reached out their hands and Fate placed the marked boxes in their hands.

Nanoha walked around the counter and nudged Fate as they both watched the kids take out what looked like pendants. "You made those?"

Fate nodded. "They don't take much time to make. Erio, Caro, do you like them?"

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

Erio grinned as he turned to Caro. "Caro, watch me! Strada, Set UP!" He then proceeded to twirl around, deftly pulling out something akin to a toy light saber / extended pole, moving into a defensive stance. "Rawr!"

Nanoha put a hand to her mouth to quickly muffle her giggling. Fate didn't even bother to try covering it up.

Especially when Caro held up her white dragon mini-figurine and said, "Ooh, me too! Friedriche! I choose you!"

They ran circles around each other, making sound effects and whatnot as they played. Eventually however, they calmed down, put their new pendants around their necks, and bowed to Fate.

Erio stepped forward and dug into his pocket before setting down some coins on the counter. "Mama said taking stuff without paying is stealing, so we went looked underneath the cushions and everything and this was what we could gather. Is it enough?"

Fate smiled as she made a show of counting the money. "Oh, you gave me too much. Here, take back the 500 yen piece." She smiled as she handed back the coin, the one with the biggest value out of the coins there.

Erio, unaware of this, accepted the 'change'. He bowed again as Fate scooped up the coins and put them in the cash register, ringing up the amount so that it could spit out a receipt. Erio stuffed the receipt in his pocket as he grinned. "Thanks a lot, Fate-neechan."

Caro added, "We always love the things you make for us."

Fate chuckled and waved her hand. "You're very welcome, you two. Now, it's getting late, so go on home before your Mama starts."

"Yes, Neechan!" The two little kids waved frantically before hurrying off, the bell ringing as the door flew open.

Nanoha smiled as Fate caught her looking.

"What?"

Nanoha shook her head. "Nothing."

"You were going to say something. What?"

"It's really nothing."

Fate looked at her, obviously not buying it for a second. She held her hands up in a poised position for attack. "I'll tickle you if you don't tell me."

Nanoha giggled and stepped away so that the stair banister separated her from Fate. "Well... It just occurred to me that... if Fate were the mother of my children, I would feel very comfortable with leaving them in her care."

Cue Blush of a Thousand Shades.

Nanoha giggled and laughed as Fate chased her up the stairs. The walls shook as Fate toppled over Nanoha, landing them both in Arf's bed. One tickle fest later, during which their positions reversed several times, they ended up lying side by side.

Breathing a little harder than she might otherwise have been, Fate muttered, "There are some things that shouldn't be mentioned in jest."

Nanoha breathed, "Sorry then. You made me say it."

"I know." Fate didn't offer an apology.

Nanoha placed a caressing hand against Fate's cheek, and was surprised when Fate leaned into her touch, seemingly unconsciously, before jerking back. Nanoha purred, "Does Fate-chan like being touched?"

Fate looked away. "As long as it's not by ferrets."

"You don't mind if I touch you?" Nanoha felt oddly honored by this allowance, and settled for placing her hand over Fate's.

"Do... do you mind?" Fate's blush was back. "If I... If I touch you?"

"I like Fate-chan." Nanoha giggled, wondering why she felt so happy about saying that even when she only meant it as friends. "Why would I mind?"

Fate said nothing, scooting over to wrap her arms around her. Nanoha reciprocated in kind.

They lay like that for several minutes before Fate's hands started to roam.

Nanoha would have stopped her at several points if she hadn't been captivated by the soft murmur of Fate's voice close to her ear. It was largely indistinguishable, so Nanoha had to keep quiet in order to decipher it properly.

When she realized what it was, Nanoha asked, baffled, "Are you measuring me?"

Fate's muttering stopped. Leaning back so that they were looking at each other again, Fate asked, "I just wanted to check if my guess at your proportions were accurate."

Nanoha's cheeks stopped one shade shy of pink. "... Were they?"

Fate looked down. Nanoha looked down as well, and saw her own chest. "Mostly. Just one area..."

Nanoha sighed, sitting up. "I'll leave that one to your imagination."

Fate pouted, but shrugged it off. "You'd make a good pillow in any case. Regardless of that."

Nanoha shook her head as she stood up. "I should be getting home about now. I usually help with the evening shifts."

"Oh? I'll walk you back?"

"That's okay; the sun hasn't even set yet. I'll be fine."

Nanoha was about to go downstairs when she felt Fate's hand close over her wrist. "Nanoha..."

"Hm?" Nanoha smiled at her.

"Did I... did I offend you somehow? Are you mad at me?"

Nanoha stopped, and Fate loosened her hold on her. Deciding she would have one last parting shot before she left for the day, she started, "Not really... but next time your hands feel like 'exploring' my body..." Leaning in close to Fate's ear, she whispered, "Make it a subjective experience; not an objective one, hm? Though I won't deny that it felt nice either way."

Giggling, Nanoha waved, said she'd see herself out, and skipped down the stairs, leaving a surprised Fate in her wake.

--

Nanoha looked down at the freshly baked cookies before nodding and tying the ribbon around the top of the bag. "I hope she likes it."

Nanoha checked the clock and verified that while still early, it was a somewhat more agreeable hour of the day. Somewhat. Wondering if Fate woke early, Nanoha decided that delivering the cookies simply could not wait. She neatened up the kitchen a bit more and put away her apron before hurrying off. She passed her mother on her way out, told her where she was going, and promised to be back in an hour or two.

With that, Nanoha set off on her trek across town to the studio.

When she arrived, the street was surprisingly quiet, unless one remembered that this was a sleepy town that didn't wake up until about two hours later. She sighed when she found that the store front still said, "CLOSED".

She decided to walk over to the park where she had met Fate and walk around a bit more. She had woken up with more energy than she needed today.

The park was completely deserted. Nanoha didn't even see the casual morning jogger. She looked around as she slowed her pace to enjoy the solitude.

That's when she saw it.

Nanoha was more than a little amazed to see Fate with an easel in front of her and a palette balance on her left hand. Smiling, she creeped up behind her, a convenient route as Fate already had her back turned towards her.

When she came close enough to look over Fate's shoulder, Nanoha stopped, breathless.

"That can't be me."

What Fate was painting... was already more beautiful than anything Nanoha could have ever imagined seeing.

Even the cookies in her bag felt insignificant in comparison.

"Nano...ha."

Nanoha caught a glimmer of something in Fate's eyes behind the shock. The expression that Fate had been painting with.

Was that...

Could it be that...

Nanoha met Fate's gaze head on.

Was this the work of someone who had nothing but the best of feelings to add to the sublime 'subjectivity' of the artpiece?

Was it this beautiful... because of love?

~End Chapter

Spoiler for Extra Note:

In the subtle(?) randomness of this piece, yes, Friedriche has been reduced to Pokemon-Intelligent-Device status and Strada is a light-saber/rod-thingy.

Also, struggling between NanoFate going too fast or too slow, I don't know. Blushing wars are fun stuff~ Not as easy to accomplish in real life tho.

And... no one pointed it out, but there may be a secondary connection between Precia and Mr. J. Scaly-spaghetti. *whistles innocently*

Ah, I was planning on making this a 3-part piece, so the next installment should have the song that inspired this. *nods* Let's see if my slow way of writing can get where it needs to be in one chapter tho.. ah...

"Nyahaha..." Nanoha looked up from mixing her batter. "Good morning, Mom. Did I wake you up?"

"'Good morning' my heinie. It's 4AM!" Momoko sighed and shook her head. She walked over and looked at the ingredients that had gone into the mix. "Hm... cookies?"

"Mmhmm. I was in the mood to bake but I didn't want to get in the way during store hours. Ah, I'll clean all this up before we have to start preparing for the day."

"It's okay. Most of this will be taken out anyway. Are you finished putting in ingredients?"

"Mmhmm. Ah!" Momoko looked up from reaching for the chocolate chips. "I still need to add those. Everything else I'm done with though."

Momoko nodded and started shifting things around so it looked a bit neater, cleaning up here and there where Nanoha had gotten a little messy. "It's odd though."

"What is?"

"You don't normally feel up to baking." Momoko smiled as she teased, "Is this a one time thing or will you be helping out more during store hours?"

"Don't I always help?"

"Hmm..." Momoko stopped as she noticed something. "Nanoha? Did you put this in there?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I just thought I try it and see how it came out."

"Ah... experimenting are you? That's why you aren't doing it during store hours."

Nanoha nodded simply.

Momoko leaned over on the counter, watching as her daughter added the chocolate chips and began to stir anew. "We do have a mixer, you know."

"I know." A small smile came to Nanoha's lips as she whispered, "A machine can mix objectively, but doing it by hand... adds subjectivity... you can put your feelings into it."

A knowing smile came to Momoko's lips. "You're making this for someone special, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"I don't think I could say 'special' just yet, but they... inspired me."

"Inspired you?"

Nanoha nodded. "Inspired me to find a recipe I can call my own."

Momoko said nothing, musing on the power of whoever it was to 'inspire' her uninspired Nanoha. She hoped she would get a chance to try it before it went out to whoever was the recipient. Standing, Momoko said her last words. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. I'm going back upstairs to get changed for the day. Save me one or two to try later, won't you?"

"All right. But only if it turns out well."

Nanoha started humming as she was left alone, and a small smile came to her lips. It had been nearly two weeks since she had first met Fate, and she had gone to see her at every chance she got. She had come the day after, simply on the excuse that Fate had promised to make a makeshift leash for Yuuno and had forgotten, but after they talked more, Nanoha found herself walking to the studio more frequently than she realized. Perhaps she had hoped to get a peek at Fate's finished piece of her, but Fate refused to even so much as work on it when she was there. But she always smiled, so it must have been coming along nicely.

Nanoha smiled as she thought of Fate. It had taken a while, but she had finally cracked through Fate's defenses and had found at least one button she could push if she wanted to tease rather than get teased. 'Fate has such a cute blush...' It was a dangerous game she played though, and if Fate ever saw through her, it would bring them back to where they started. Nanoha remembered the day before, when she had taken a walk around town with Fate just to hang out.

--

"What's your favorite activity?" Nanoha had been thinking of something to ask for the past thirty seconds, which seemed shorter to Fate than to Nanoha. "Between taking photos, painting, and sculpting?"

Fate hummed as she thought about it. "Each has their different appeal. With photos, while getting just the right angle and lighting is important and ultimately satisfying if you do it right, it's kind of quick and painless. Painting takes a long time when you really put care into it, but the variances of color help produce something... very fullfilling to me. And you can paint things into 'reality' that you wouldn't otherwise find. The same goes for sculpting, but there's just something special about being able to put your hands on something and mold art as you see fit." Fate stopped and then laughed to herself. "I suppose you could say I love them all."

Nanoha tried to hint, "So have you decided what medium you're going to use for my thing?"

Fate smirked and waggled her finger. "It's an artist's perogative to keep things like that secret till the final day."

"Isn't there something in the guidebook that says models have their perogatives too?"

Fate chuckled. She said nothing until her eyes fell on the ice cream cart a little ways away. Pointing to it, she said, "Models get free ice cream when I can afford it. Like today."

Nanoha pouted, even as she walked with Fate to the cart. "That's a pretty cheap commission. Bought for 200 yen."

After they sat down with their ice cream, Fate murmured with a soft sigh, "I love ice cream... You know I count my paycheck by how many ice cream bars I can buy with it?"

Nanoha giggled. "That's silly." She did not mention that she counted her own allowance based on how many more installments she would need to buy the advertised BBGun Bazooka called 'Starlight Breaker'.

Fate leaned in close, her lips mere centimeters from Nanoha's. And then she extended her tongue...

...and licked off a little ice cream that had gotten away. Nanoha was about to wipe off the spot with her handkerchief and make a comment about how gross that was, when she caught the way Fate was watching her. In a snap, Nanoha thought of retaliation.

She licked her lips, inadvertently swiping the place Fate's tongue had just been.

Fate stared with a slack jaw for a good two seconds before the blush went from a rating of 2 to 10 in .75 seconds.

'Bingo.' Nanoha laughed, her eyes becoming lidded as she openly teased, "I see how it is now. When was the last time you've been on the receiving end?"

Fate quickly looked away, licking her ice cream quietly.

Nanoha scooted closer to her on the bench.

Fate scooted a little farther away.

"Fate."

Fate looked up and saw Nanoha smile at her. "What?"

"You're really cute, you know that?"

Fate stared at her for another second before starting to chomp onto the ice cream cone. "Oh hush you."

Nanoha giggled and finished her own ice cream, feeling satisfied in the most complete yet simplest of ways.

For the rest of the day, she had started 'payback' for the two weeks of teasing and blushing that she had endured. Oddly enough, when she thought about the blush she would see on Fate's face if she said or did one thing or another, it never occurred to her that being the one causing it might be reason to be embarrassed as well.

When they returned to the studio that day, Fate was greeted by two little kids whom she seemed to recognize very easily. Smiling as they hugged her, she greeted, "Erio, Caro, how are you doing?"

"Good!" They chimed as one, before Erio, a red-headed little boy who was a bit taller than the girl, "We were waiting for you."

"Not for long I hope?"

Caro shook her head. "No, it was only a little bit. Precia-san said you would be coming back soon so we waited."

Fate chuckled, ultimately ignoring Nanoha as she walked around the counter to take something out of the cupboard. Placing two boxes on the counter, she asked, "Could this be what you were waiting for?"

Their eyes lit up with glee as they reached out their hands and Fate placed the marked boxes in their hands.

Nanoha walked around the counter and nudged Fate as they both watched the kids take out what looked like pendants. "You made those?"

Fate nodded. "They don't take much time to make. Erio, Caro, do you like them?"

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

Erio grinned as he turned to Caro. "Caro, watch me! Strada, Set UP!" He then proceeded to twirl around, deftly pulling out something akin to a toy light saber / extended pole, moving into a defensive stance. "Rawr!"

Nanoha put a hand to her mouth to quickly muffle her giggling. Fate didn't even bother to try covering it up.

Especially when Caro held up her white dragon mini-figurine and said, "Ooh, me too! Friedriche! I choose you!"

They ran circles around each other, making sound effects and whatnot as they played. Eventually however, they calmed down, put their new pendants around their necks, and bowed to Fate.

Erio stepped forward and dug into his pocket before setting down some coins on the counter. "Mama said taking stuff without paying is stealing, so we went looked underneath the cushions and everything and this was what we could gather. Is it enough?"

Fate smiled as she made a show of counting the money. "Oh, you gave me too much. Here, take back the 500 yen piece." She smiled as she handed back the coin, the one with the biggest value out of the coins there.

Erio, unaware of this, accepted the 'change'. He bowed again as Fate scooped up the coins and put them in the cash register, ringing up the amount so that it could spit out a receipt. Erio stuffed the receipt in his pocket as he grinned. "Thanks a lot, Fate-neechan."

Caro added, "We always love the things you make for us."

Fate chuckled and waved her hand. "You're very welcome, you two. Now, it's getting late, so go on home before your Mama starts."

"Yes, Neechan!" The two little kids waved frantically before hurrying off, the bell ringing as the door flew open.

Nanoha smiled as Fate caught her looking.

"What?"

Nanoha shook her head. "Nothing."

"You were going to say something. What?"

"It's really nothing."

Fate looked at her, obviously not buying it for a second. She held her hands up in a poised position for attack. "I'll tickle you if you don't tell me."

Nanoha giggled and stepped away so that the stair banister separated her from Fate. "Well... It just occurred to me that... if Fate were the mother of my children, I would feel very comfortable with leaving them in her care."

Cue Blush of a Thousand Shades.

Nanoha giggled and laughed as Fate chased her up the stairs. The walls shook as Fate toppled over Nanoha, landing them both in Arf's bed. One tickle fest later, during which their positions reversed several times, they ended up lying side by side.

Breathing a little harder than she might otherwise have been, Fate muttered, "There are some things that shouldn't be mentioned in jest."

Nanoha breathed, "Sorry then. You made me say it."

"I know." Fate didn't offer an apology.

Nanoha placed a caressing hand against Fate's cheek, and was surprised when Fate leaned into her touch, seemingly unconsciously, before jerking back. Nanoha purred, "Does Fate-chan like being touched?"

Fate looked away. "As long as it's not by ferrets."

"You don't mind if I touch you?" Nanoha felt oddly honored by this allowance, and settled for placing her hand over Fate's.

"Do... do you mind?" Fate's blush was back. "If I... If I touch you?"

"I like Fate-chan." Nanoha giggled, wondering why she felt so happy about saying that even when she only meant it as friends. "Why would I mind?"

Fate said nothing, scooting over to wrap her arms around her. Nanoha reciprocated in kind.

They lay like that for several minutes before Fate's hands started to roam.

Nanoha would have stopped her at several points if she hadn't been captivated by the soft murmur of Fate's voice close to her ear. It was largely indistinguishable, so Nanoha had to keep quiet in order to decipher it properly.

When she realized what it was, Nanoha asked, baffled, "Are you measuring me?"

Fate's muttering stopped. Leaning back so that they were looking at each other again, Fate asked, "I just wanted to check if my guess at your proportions were accurate."

Nanoha's cheeks stopped one shade shy of pink. "... Were they?"

Fate looked down. Nanoha looked down as well, and saw her own chest. "Mostly. Just one area..."

Nanoha sighed, sitting up. "I'll leave that one to your imagination."

Fate pouted, but shrugged it off. "You'd make a good pillow in any case. Regardless of that."

Nanoha shook her head as she stood up. "I should be getting home about now. I usually help with the evening shifts."

"Oh? I'll walk you back?"

"That's okay; the sun hasn't even set yet. I'll be fine."

Nanoha was about to go downstairs when she felt Fate's hand close over her wrist. "Nanoha..."

"Hm?" Nanoha smiled at her.

"Did I... did I offend you somehow? Are you mad at me?"

Nanoha stopped, and Fate loosened her hold on her. Deciding she would have one last parting shot before she left for the day, she started, "Not really... but next time your hands feel like 'exploring' my body..." Leaning in close to Fate's ear, she whispered, "Make it a subjective experience; not an objective one, hm? Though I won't deny that it felt nice either way."

Giggling, Nanoha waved, said she'd see herself out, and skipped down the stairs, leaving a surprised Fate in her wake.

--

Nanoha looked down at the freshly baked cookies before nodding and tying the ribbon around the top of the bag. "I hope she likes it."

Nanoha checked the clock and verified that while still early, it was a somewhat more agreeable hour of the day. Somewhat. Wondering if Fate woke early, Nanoha decided that delivering the cookies simply could not wait. She neatened up the kitchen a bit more and put away her apron before hurrying off. She passed her mother on her way out, told her where she was going, and promised to be back in an hour or two.

With that, Nanoha set off on her trek across town to the studio.

When she arrived, the street was surprisingly quiet, unless one remembered that this was a sleepy town that didn't wake up until about two hours later. She sighed when she found that the store front still said, "CLOSED".

She decided to walk over to the park where she had met Fate and walk around a bit more. She had woken up with more energy than she needed today.

The park was completely deserted. Nanoha didn't even see the casual morning jogger. She looked around as she slowed her pace to enjoy the solitude.

That's when she saw it.

Nanoha was more than a little amazed to see Fate with an easel in front of her and a palette balance on her left hand. Smiling, she creeped up behind her, a convenient route as Fate already had her back turned towards her.

When she came close enough to look over Fate's shoulder, Nanoha stopped, breathless.

"That can't be me."

What Fate was painting... was already more beautiful than anything Nanoha could have ever imagined seeing.

Even the cookies in her bag felt insignificant in comparison.

"Nano...ha."

Nanoha caught a glimmer of something in Fate's eyes behind the shock. The expression that Fate had been painting with.

Was that...

Could it be that...

Nanoha met Fate's gaze head on.

Was this the work of someone who had nothing but the best of feelings to add to the sublime 'subjectivity' of the artpiece?

Was it this beautiful... because of love?

~End Chapter

Spoiler for Extra Note:

In the subtle(?) randomness of this piece, yes, Friedriche has been reduced to Pokemon-Intelligent-Device status and Strada is a light-saber/rod-thingy.

Also, struggling between NanoFate going too fast or too slow, I don't know. Blushing wars are fun stuff~ Not as easy to accomplish in real life tho.

And... no one pointed it out, but there may be a secondary connection between Precia and Mr. J. Scaly-spaghetti. *whistles innocently*

Ah, I was planning on making this a 3-part piece, so the next installment should have the song that inspired this. *nods* Let's see if my slow way of writing can get where it needs to be in one chapter tho.. ah...

*wants to start on a certain different MSLN storyline*

That was awesome, I can't wait to read the next part. Your story has a nice flow, it keeps the reader entertained all the way through.

In the subtle(?) randomness of this piece, yes, Friedriche has been reduced to Pokemon-Intelligent-Device status and Strada is a light-saber/rod-thingy.

Also, struggling between NanoFate going too fast or too slow, I don't know. Blushing wars are fun stuff~ Not as easy to accomplish in real life tho.

And... no one pointed it out, but there may be a secondary connection between Precia and Mr. J. Scaly-spaghetti. *whistles innocently*

Ah, I was planning on making this a 3-part piece, so the next installment should have the song that inspired this. *nods* Let's see if my slow way of writing can get where it needs to be in one chapter tho.. ah...

*wants to start on a certain different MSLN storyline*

You have your own little piece of art going here. This is absolutely amazing, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the read!

Spoiler for I'll Take The Kids, And You Take My Heart part three:

Lindy walked calmly through the darkened house. The clock ticked loudly through the quiet hall as the green haired woman in a bathrobe wandered down it in her slipper-clad feet. She opened the doors to her children’s rooms and found them sleeping peacefully, but why couldn’t she sleep?

She sat down at the kitchen table while the teakettle on the stove started to heat up. She looked out her large kitchen windows to the house across street but got up shortly to pour the boiling water into her mug. Spoonful by spoonful, the water retained the generous portion of sugar dumped into it, which caused Lindy to smile at the memories. Her late husband, Clyde, always teased her for drinking sugar-flavored water. The woman chuckled softly as the images of her husband flashed before her mind’s eye. She remembered that old comfortable feeling of waking up with his chin stubble rubbing the back of her neck as he snored while holding her. It had been the source of endless fights when they were first married, but by the end, she couldn’t fall asleep without it.

Lindy sighed at the table while she tried to work out in her mind why she craved that feeling again after suppressing the urge for so long. Unwittingly, her head turned in the direction of the darkened house across the street. Momoko’s face floated in her mind along with her gentle laugh.

‘I wonder if she’s up?’ thought Lindy while checking the time, ‘Probably not at four in the morning.’

She debated with herself over whether or not she should go over tomorrow to the Takamachi house. On one hand, she didn’t want to intrude on Momoko’s kindness; they had only just met, she reasoned. On the other hand, there was something about Momoko that made Lindy feel at ease and useful. She remembered that immediately after her husband’s death her house was flooded with mourners and relatives with cooked meals and sympathy cards at a time when she didn’t really understand her own grief. She remembered that she just wanted them all out of her house so that she could cry alone with her two small children. The good-meaning people petered out after a mouth, and soon she got her wish for solitude, and she regretted ever wanting it. At the year anniversary of Clyde’s funeral is when her grief almost got the best of her. She had stared at the bottle of pills for hours while holding the liter of vodka. If it weren’t for Fate’s cries that night, she would have certainly gone through with it.

Lindy’s thoughts drifted back to Momoko. She had said that her husband died a year ago, and Lindy wondered if she had ever considered suicide like she did that night. Her heart sank at the thought, and she looked out the window to the quiet house across the street in worry.

“You’re not alone,” she whispered as she looked at her own reflection in the window superimposed onto the house.

She made a small gasp when the front door of the Takamachi house opened. She didn’t know why she did it, but Lindy quickly moved to the side of the window.

From her vantage point, she saw Momoko in a light jacket using both hands to pull up her thick hair into a ponytail while a piece of toast hung from her mouth. Lindy felt a smile creep on her face as watched Momoko start the long walk toward her café.

-- -- --

“Fate, I know you’re excited about your new school, but you need to eat your breakfast,” yawned Lindy.

She picked up the wiggly girl and sat her at the table next to Chrono who had his arm shoved into the cereal box in search of the toy at the bottom. She then brushed their hair one more time and tied a cloth napkin around their bento lunches. Their small backpacks sat at the door with their supplies ready for their first day of school. She watched her children eat and glanced at the leftovers that could not fit into the bento lunches. On a whim, she pulled out the spare bento from the cabinet and filled it to the brim.

‘I wonder if…’ her mind trailed.

After breakfast, Fate and Chrono sat on the step and pulled on their shoes. Lindy locked the front door behind them and held their hands as they walked sleepily to the elementary school two blocks away.

“Fate-chan!” cried a voice behind them.

“Nanoha!” Fate replied with a smile as her brunette friend came running up to them.

“Good morning, Nanoha-chan!” greeted Lindy who then waved to the two teenagers with book bags walking in the other direction to the high school.

“Good morning, Harlaown-san!” she bowed.

Lindy chuckled and escorted the three small students to the front steps of the large building.

-- -- --

Momoko wiped the counter down during a moment of down time after the morning rush. Her shop still had a few people in it, but she knew that it would be relatively quiet till noon. The ringing bell made her sigh as she looked for the next customer.

“Good morning!” greeted the smiling Lindy.

“Good morning!” replied Momoko as she studied Lindy’s form-fitting uniform and black briefcase, “I didn’t know you were in the service.”

“Navy,” answered Lindy, “but I’m not on a ship anymore. They have me doing consultant field analysis and spec checks.”

Momoko nodded though the words flew over her head.

“I usually work at home,” said Lindy hesitantly, “but I was wondering if I can set-up shop in here for today.”

“That would be wonderful,” said Momoko, “but do me a favor and leave the booths open.”

“Certainly,” said Lindy as she took her laptop out of her briefcase and sat at a small table, “Oh, before I forget, I’m going to need a lot of caffeine today.”

Lindy hastily walked to the counter and placed a large bill on next to the register. Momoko placed a Grande-sized Americano in front of Lindy and opened the drawer to give her the change.

“No need,” said Lindy sipping the hot drink, “Just keep them coming.”

Momoko smiled and went back to cleaning the espresso machines behind the counter. During the lull, she watched Lindy work as the other woman tapped gracefully on her laptop. Pictures of battleships and fighter jets popped up on her screen next to columns of equations. Momoko stared at the nosecone of a transport plane while she exchanged Lindy’s empty cup for a full one. Lindy stretched and cracked her neck as she wrapped her right hand around the warm cup.

“So, how about pizza?” yawned Lindy.

Momoko gave her a confused look.

“For lunch,” clarified Lindy.

“I can’t leave till Kyoya gets here,” replied Momoko apologetically.

“I’m bringing you back a slice,” Lindy was already on her feet and walking to the door, “If you don’t tell me what you want, then I’m coming back with cheese.”

“Ahh…er…but…”

“Leaving…” smirked Lindy as she opened the door causing the bell to chime.

“Mushrooms!”

Lindy grinned and let the door close behind her.

-- -- --

She came back after a short time later to see a line forming behind the register and Momoko struggling to keep up. Lindy walked behind the counter and placed the hot pizza box in the kitchen. She looked at Momoko’s back as the brunette woman concentrated on imputing an order into her machine. With a deep breath of resolve, she pulled off her uniform jacket and rolled up her long oxford sleeves.

“What can I do?” she asked while pulling a clean apron off of the rack.

Momoko turned in surprise, “Lindy! You don’t-”

“But I am,” Lindy said kindly but firmly, “Have me do the simple stuff for you.”

Momoko stared at her in shock till her need overcame her politeness, “Grab another stake of medium-sized cups from the back, please.”

The lunchtime rush died down, and Lindy reheated their pizza slices in the microwave next to the espresso machine.

“Thanks for your help,” Momoko said sincerely, "I can’t pay much-"

“It would be an insult to pay me,” interrupted Lindy, “I did this as a favor for a friend.”

Momoko looked away in embarrassment.

“And as an added bonus, I learned how to make a good cappuccino!” said Lindy trying to lighten the mood.

Momoko smiled, “At least it won’t be too much longer. Kyoya and Miyuki will be here shortly.”

“Do you want me to pick up Nanoha?” asked Lindy while dipping her crust in Garlic sauce, “I have to get my kids anyway.”

“Actually, I like going to get her,” replied Momoko, “It gives me a break from the café. Would you like me to pick up Fate and Chrono?”

“We could go together,” offered Lindy.

“We-“

“Excuse me?” said a voice from the other side of the counter, “But can I get a fork for my muffin?”

The little old lady’s eyes barely made it over the counter, and her bran muffin sat undisturbed on its plate. The sunken eyes behind the think glasses stared at the tub of plastic forks behind the two friends.

“Yes, ma’am!” both of the women said as the turned inward to grab a fork for her.

Momoko suddenly became aware of her mistake instantly as the front of her twisting body mirrored the movements of the woman on the other side as they both reached for the plastic forks. Her hip ground against another hip, and her breasts rubbed against the other pair.

“Sorry!” yelped Momoko while the fragrance of Lindy’s perfume filled her nostrils.

She could feel her cheeks blaze, and she turned away from Lindy to hand the elderly woman a fork. She looked back at Lindy to see the green haired woman equally red with her arms folded across her chest.

“Mama?” a young man’s voice said suspiciously, “Are you all right?”

“Yes, Kyoya,” she murmured still fighting her embarrassment.

The teenager flashed Lindy a suspicious look, but the green haired woman stepped into the kitchen to put the apron away and retrieve her jacket. She then went to the small table to pack her briefcase as well.

“Where are you going?” asked Momoko putting her own apron on the rack.

“I told you,” answered Lindy, “I’m going with you to pick up the kids.”

Momoko knew better than to fight it, and the two women began the five-block walk to the elementary school. Momoko’s embarrassment eased as the same comfortable feeling from before returned to her.

“So, how early do you get up in the morning?” asked Lindy when their conversation had faded into silence.

“I’m usually up by 3:30 and out the door by 4am. Why?”

“Ok, let me first say that I’m not a stalker-“

“Why do I get the feeling that I don’t want to hear the rest of this?” interrupted Momoko jokingly.

“No, I couldn’t sleep last night, and I was having a cup of tea in my kitchen when I saw you leave. So, I wondered if that was normal.”

“I was running a bit late this morning,” chuckled Momoko, “because I had a hard time sleeping last night as well.”

“You should have come over,” said Lindy, “Promise me you will next time.”

“I will make no promises, but if I’m up and your kitchen light is on then I might come over.”

Lindy smiled broadly, “What was on your mind that kept you from sleeping?”

“You,” came the reply, and Momoko gasped at what had escaped her lips.

“Me?” asked Lindy trying to make eye contact with the woman who was studying her shoes.

“Mama!”

They tiny voice cut through the tension as Nanoha leaped into her mother’s arms.

“Mom!”

Blond pigtails fluttered in the wind as Fate hugged her mother tightly, and Lindy gave her a small kiss on the cheek. Chrono was still up at the entrance talking to some of the other first grade boys until he heard his mother’s shrill whistle.

“Mom,” Fate said while they waited for Chrono, “you made a mistake today!”

“What did I do?” asked Lindy curiously.

“You put two lunches in my backpack!” Fate giggled.

“Oh!” Lindy said trying to remember the foggy morning, “Did I not put one in Chrono’s backpack?”

“No, Chrono, had his, but it was OK,” explained Fate, “because Nanoha didn’t have a lunch today, so I gave her the extra one!”

“Nanoha?” asked Momoko to the little one in her arms, “What happened to your lunch money?”

“I lost it,” the tiny girl mumbled.

“A big kid took if from her!” said Fate to Lindy and Momoko’s horror, “and me and Chrono tried to beat him up, but he was really big.”

“Chrono…” Lindy groaned rubbing her forehead. She saw her son walking slowly to her with a familiar pink sheet of carbon paper in his hand and a swollen lip on his face.

Momoko turned her attention on her daughter, “Has this happened before, Nanoha?”

Nanoha murmured something into her shoulder.

“Nanoha?”

“Sometimes,” the five year old whispered.

Guilt came with the realization of what her daughter was truly saying. Nanoha hadn’t had lunch at school for who-knows how long, because someone was taking her lunch money. Tears came to her eyes as she remembered Nanoha telling her that she was hungry after school and her giving her daughter a few carrot sticks to hold her till dinner.

She put Nanoha down to wipe her eyes and saw her daughter walk over and hug Fate. The blond wrapped her tiny arms around her.

“Don’t worry, Nanoha,” the blond said bravely, “I’ll protect you from the big kids next time.”

Momoko couldn’t stop the stream of tears at this point, and she tried not to look at Lindy, but her eyes moved there against her will.

“I’m sorry,” Lindy said with tears in her own eyes.

“No,” Momoko took two steps toward Lindy and embraced her tightly while she wept into her chest, “Thank you. Thank you so much!”

Lindy returned the embrace and held the crying Momoko for a long time while their children walked together to play in the nearby park.

For once you feel safe, although you were only just attacked by insane paper throwing wolves a few days ago you're certain the wolf won't strike again so soon... silly false sense of security.
"You know you missed me!" Like an annoying head crab the wolf attaches to your head, grinning all the while. "And I brought paper!"
The wolf hops off and hands you a role of newspaper before running off. You begin to re-
A news paper then flies at your head.
"For old times sake!"
You begin to read...

The Lyrical Times

A new team up?An anonymous source has informed this paper that local Go- I mean writer Satashi and local artist TeleIce are teaming up. Yes you heard it right. Apparently Satashi is going to write Satashi's next fic around a picture Tele draws, maybe if we're lucky Satashi'll convince Tele to make more then one :3. This reporter's hoping for as many as possible (and maybe a Zafira... come on a reporter can hope can't it?).

The new duo will forever be known as Teletashi... yes you read that right.

In other other news it turns out Brittish!Hayate was the idea of none other then TeleIce, be sure to give her your thanks for us having a girl with a cute little brittish accent in Vampire!Fate now.

Over and out!

Brit!Hayate: I'm not gonna embarrass myself like that again. Next time I see Fate she won't get me.
Vita: Oi Hayate your skirts about to fall off
Hayate: Blimey bloody buggery...
Vita: